The Screen Scribe

If the original Happy Gilmore was a glorious collision of angry putts, hockey fists, and goofy heart, Happy Gilmore 2 plays like the hangover of that sunset shots. It arrives three decades later with all the weight of nostalgia strapped to its back, only to leave you wondering why none of the spark has survived the trip.

Happy Gilmore is back but he is not exactly what he used to be. A major life event leaves him buried under financial ruin and emotional wreckage. To save his daughter and prove he still matters he dusts off his unlikely golf swing. The mission is painfully simple on the surface. He needs money fast to cover her ballet lessons. His return to the golf circuit is chaotic slapstick with cameo after cameo from real world athletes and pop figures. Old faces show up too, Shooter McGavin and others who feel suspended in time. The film tries to juggle tribute to late original cast members with gonzo golf gags, but the tone slides from parody to discomfort without warning.

Let us start here. There is a certain brand of male characters who are reduced in their own stories until there is nothing left but ruin and regret. Happy Gilmore is one of them now. What was once a character defined by fearless absurdity and improbable wins is now just a broken man dragged through golf course after golf course like a punchline with no punch. Sandler helped co-write this which makes it sting more. It feels like he traded his own legacy for cheap drama, which in itself is a pity given his lauded work in Uncut Gems and Hustle in recent years. The humour itself is stuck in the early nineties, slapstick meets gag cartoon with a few gross outs thrown in to try and shock. But it comes off dated. What once felt playful now feels lazy. The jokes do not land. They land on you instead, like wet socks.

And the plot itself? So outlandish that even the original would raise an eyebrow. There is nothing almost believable about it now. It sets a tone of goofy compromise only to yank it away when the absurd gets absurd for absurdness sake. It leaves all the charm on the cutting room floor. Without charm or heart there is just hollowness.

Okay but let us be fair. Returning faces bumped into this mess offer moments of nostalgia that do not feel entirely cynical. Shooter McGavin is back in all his smug glory and Woods worth of resentment and when he is on screen there is a spark. There is also a respectful nod or two to those original cast members who have passed on making the cemetery tribute scene almost meaningful in spite of itself.

There are cameos so random they border on surreal. Bad Bunny appears and it feels more like a wink than pandering. Eminem does a cameo that lands thanks to sheer bravado. And a few golf stars make appearances in ways that feel oddly grounded next to all the cartoon chaos. Those moments are brief but they do add texture in a film that badly needed any.

Visually it is clean enough. Golf greens pop. Interiors are bright without being slick. The pace rarely lets you catch your breath which can work in some comedies. Here it just feels like someone forgot you do sometimes need time to breathe.

Happy Gilmore 2 is a confusing revival. It leans into parody until it forgets how to parody. It walks familiar ground without the heart that made the original feel strange and special. Sandler may have co-written it, but he is the ghost of the star past haunting a script that never should have stepped onto a fairway again. Watch it only if you are nostalgic and curious. Watch it as a curiosity rather than a comeback. Otherwise skip it. Because Happy Gilmore 2 is technically a movie. But it is no classic. Not even close.

1.5 / 5 ✨ from the Screen Scribe.

(All images are owned by and courtesy of Youtube / Netflix)