When Happy Gilmore 2 begins, the titular aspiring hockey player-turned-pro golfer (Adam Sandler) is looking back on a very successful career as a pro golfer, having won six tour championships before putting away his clubs for good. Now, not having played golf for 10 years, he’s hit a low point in life that finds him working a menial job, spending a lot of time with his family, and drinking heavily.
He’s still got his temper, something his four semi-adult sons have inherited, but he’s without question feeling defeated by life. Until, that is, he finds out that his daughter Vienna (Sunny Sandler) has a chance to attend a prestigious ballet academy in Paris, which unfortunately comes with a $75,000-a-year price tag. There’s only one thing Happy’s ever been good enough at to raise that kind of money, and so, fueled by love for his daughter, he decides to come back to the game that once made him rich and famous.
However, the game itself might be on the verge of changing forever, thanks to a new rival golf league created by energy drink mogul Frank Manatee (Benny Safdie). And it’s not as easy as Happy might have hoped to get back in the swing of things. (Golf joke!)
It’s all a solid enough set-up for a legacy sequel, one that could have been a little tighter but thankfully doesn’t lean too hard on recreating every single beat from the original movie. Between Happy’s family life and a whole new series of challenges for him to tackle, there’s enough freshness to the plot to keep it from feeling like a total rehash of what came before, while still delivering wild golf stunts and a huge range of cameos, including professional athletes, podcasters, Sandler family members, and actors from the first film.
When it comes to the cameos, there are so many that can’t be spoiled here due to embargo restrictions and/or the fact that this review can’t just be a long-ass list of pro golfers who played themselves. That being said, John Daly plays a particularly demented version of himself who’s cheerfully living in Happy’s garage, getting drunk and watching international seasons of Love Island. He adds just the right energy to the chaos of Happy’s home life.
And the real standout from this vast ensemble is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, AKA Bad Bunny. Bad Bunny treats his role as Happy’s caddy like a stealth audition to lead a comedy franchise of his own — he’s fully committed to the character, navigating various gags with nimble grace and a remarkably effective deadpan. Fingers crossed that Hollywood’s paying attention, because he’s fantastic.
As much as the movie embraces new talent, though, it also has one foot planted firmly in the past. The first Happy Gilmore is currently streaming on Netflix, but it will be leaving the service at the end of the month (Starz gets the exclusive streaming rights beginning August 1st).
Perhaps in preparation for this, Happy Gilmore 2 makes a point of setting up every returning character from the first movie with a brief clip of their original appearance, for those who might not have revisited the 1994 movie recently. This ends up meaning a lot of clips, because even actors who had tiny amounts of screen time in the first movie get to make an appearance. There’s even a scene in the movie set inside a literal graveyard for all of the characters played by actors who didn’t survive to see 2025 (including Bob Barker).
Christopher McDonald, returning as Happy’s nemesis, deserves some real applause for the unhinged dimensions he brings to a Shooter McGavin who’s also fallen on hard times. As for Sandler, the original Happy was a reflection of Sandler’s star persona, and while that hasn’t changed much, he still brings some genuine gravitas to the character in his rougher moments. He’s not going to be nominated for an Oscar for this, but there are moments that help support the awards buzz floating around his role in Noah Baumbach’s Netflix dramedy Jay Kelly, set to premiere this November. (Belated justice for his Uncut Gems performance, perhaps.)
Happy Gilmore 2 is at least the third movie of the summer where an older man decides that he’s not quite ready to pass the torch and/or consider retirement. That’s about all it has in common with Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning and F1: The Movie, but it says a lot about how our aging stars see themselves in the context of their legacy: They’ll be done when they say they’re done, and not a second sooner.
Unlike Tom Cruise, though, Sandler doesn’t appear to have a death wish. He simply seems to enjoy making movies for Netflix, keeping his friends and family employed and his fans entertained. Happy Gilmore 2 could have been a bit more ambitious, but its slightly darker and sadder tone does speak to the way life in general feels a little darker and sadder as we age. And it knows that one of the best ways to make it through the darker and sadder moments is to laugh at the silliest shit we can.
Happy Gilmore 2 is streaming now on Netflix. Check out the trailer below.
