Besides receiving a paltry 2 stars here, the original Inbetweeners movie still raked in shed loads of cash. Of course any movie that fills up small wooden houses with copious amounts of paper currency will warrant a sequel. Enter the imaginatively titled Inbetweeners 2.
Si, Neil, Jay and Will return and this time find themselves in Australia on a road trip of sorts trying to find Jay’s old flame. As things kick off, Jay is down under bestowing tales of drunken, sex filled shenanigans (as only he can and brilliantly realised in a montage) to the lads back home. Convinced by Jay that it’s a non-stop clunge festival on the other side of the world, our 3 mates head off.
Quite quickly, your stereotypical gross out humour assaults the senses with bestiality and shit flying in all directions. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. While you’d be forgiven for thinking “Here we go again” with the same old shtick, things surprisingly take a turn for the better, with the movie shedding ball licking for more heartfelt moments between our 4 hopeless heroes. And it’s these moments that propel the movie miles above what the original was, and returns to it’s TV roots by providing lots and lots of heart and honesty! Mixed in with some rather brilliant one liners and quips, the humour in the latter half is perfectly delivered by the cast and audiences will laugh out loud on more than one occasion. It’s the more “clever” humour as opposed to the gross out stuff (which seems tacked on and serves little purpose) that works incredibly well.
The lead cast, Simon Bird, James Buckley, Joe Thomas and Blake Harrison have immeasurable chemistry together and are simply perfect here. They embody their characters with razor sharp precision and don’t seem like they’re acting at all. They also seem far more settled in the sequel than they did in the original. The supporting cast include Tamla Kari, Daisy Ridley and Freddie Stroma who all do admirable work here, providing the funny when required.
The Inbetweeners 2 is not without it’s faults. The multiple plot lines seem a bit rushed and in some cases, only an after thought. Also, some of the split screen sequences look very unfinished and confusing. The ending, while very touching, seems a bit rushed, but in the bigger scheme of things, all these grips are relatively minor.
Once you endure the first half’s gross out festival, you are in for a treat with one of this years funnier movies. It’s far closer now in tone to the brilliant TV series and is incredibly charming. Definitely worth a watch!
