“Vacation Friends 2” goes against the grain and fails to deliver something new, instead relying on a tired formula. The story revolves around Marcus (played by Lil Rel Howery), a Chicago construction company owner, and Emily (portrayed by Yvonne Orji), who attempt to enjoy a peaceful stay at a resort. However, their plans are disrupted by the mischievous and vulgar Ron (John Cena) and Kyla (Meredith Hagner), who almost ruin their vacation. In this sequel, Marcus and Emily invite the newly married troublemakers to stay with them at a Caribbean hotel for five days. They are also accompanied by their baby, named Marcus, and the deadpan hotel manager Maurillio (Carlos Santos) from the previous film, who is mainly there to babysit.
Unexpectedly, Steve Buscemi’s character, Reese, enters the scene with a mischievous smile, recently released from San Quentin. Reese is Kyla’s father and his arrival couldn’t have come at a worse time for Marcus, who is anxious to present to the hotel’s owner and secure a project in Chicago to impress people like VP Yeon (Ronnie Chieng). Marcus cannot afford any disruptions from his rowdy friends or their surprise guest if he wants to succeed.
Reese turns out to be even more manipulative than Kyla was in the past, but everyone seems powerless against his schemes. This film uses Reese as a means to generate character-based peer-pressure comedy, pushing contrived scenarios that drain the fun out of chaos. He pressures Marcus into surfing, and Ron, desperate to win over his father-in-law, gets involved in Reese’s shady business dealings with some men at the resort.
Although Buscemi’s acting is commendable, reminiscent of his work in Happy Madison films (from which “Vacation Friends 2” takes inspiration), the characters’ actions in general feel forced, as do the setups. Even the picturesque Hawaii setting fails to bring an authentic sense of enjoyment to the movie. At times, you may find yourself forcing a laugh during weak sequences just to convince yourself that it’s all meant to be fun.
The first “Vacation Friends” shifted its focus midway from resort chaos to a wedding comedy, with Marcus feeling the pressure to impress his future father-in-law and keep Ron and Kyla in check. In “Vacation Friends 2,” a similar change occurs, turning the film into an action-comedy when Reese’s ill-conceived scuba-diving trip results in everyone dodging gunfire. This could have been an opportunity for the movie to break convention or embrace this unique narrative shift. However, the action scenes suffer from the same stagnant nature as the mild comedy set-pieces, which are essentially scripted as “and then they get drunk” or “and then they run away.”
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