Vacation Friends 2
HuluAs the amount of original streaming content has increased, so has the number of projects that have gotten lost in the shuffle that failed to find passionate audiences and a lasting impact. Hailing from Hulu in 2021, one of these films was Clay Tarver's directorial debut, Vacation Friends. Following two couples who find themselves intertwined after meeting on a trip to Mexico, the film had genuinely fun writing and performances leading to one of the more worthy comedies to release that year. Despite the lack of conversation surrounding the film, Hulu seemingly was pleased with the project as Clay Tarver was hired back on to create a sequel, inspiringly titled Vacation Friends 2.
Largely reuniting the cast and crew of the first film, the highlight of the series continues to be the on-screen chemistry found between cast members. A comedic powerhouse of an ensemble including the returning John Cena, Lil Rel Howery, Yvonne Orji, and Meredith Hagner alongside newcomer Steve Buscemi, the cast is once again a personable mixture of characters that give the film its best moments. Specifically, the chemistry between Cena and Howery continues to shine as their banter and unique dynamic only evolve from what was presented in the first film. Predictably, Buscemi also brings a nice new bit of variety with no lack of confidence. When allowed to simply exist, these characters are fun to be around and so much of that is due to the genuinely fun performances behind them.
Sadly, Vacation Friends 2 decides to be far more forceful when it comes to plot and structure than the original film. While the first film really went all out with a quick pace and unique plot, Vacation Friends 2 feels like the most basic and lifeless entry one could make in the modern comedy genre. The plot is split into two sides. The first sees Marcus (Howery) try to impress possible new business partners who, at first, look down upon him. The other main plot sees the introduction of Buscemi's Reese, Kyla's (Hagner) father, who is getting his family and their friends involved in a criminal scheme. Mixed in is a third side plot regarding Marcus and Emily (Orji) trying to have a baby even though Emily is still figuring out if she wants to be a parent or not.
These three plots are executed with no sense of originality or complexity leading to a truly painful viewing experience as these fun characters are forced to go through the motions of a lifeless film. There is no sense of personality or inspiration found anywhere within the film's screenplay which feels incredibly reductive when compared to the fun found in the original film. It doesn't help that the runtime is clearly bloated with there being no reason the film couldn't conduct itself in an 80 to 90-minute space. If Hulu was hoping that Vacation Friends 2 would inspire new fans of the series or provide any meaningful contribution to the services’ already mixed library of original content, the project is sure to disappoint as it is hard to imagine many audiences will be making it even to the credits.
The technical ability of the film is also passable at best. While the editing from Tim Roche has its moments, Roche knows something about trying to find comedy within a dull project after his work on Thor: Love and Thunder, it is hard to say the film finds any unique or memorable iconography or visual moments of presentation. While this is far from impressive, considering numerous streaming projects have accepted genuinely awful technical identities makes this reality far from being as bad as it could be.
To put it bluntly, Vacation Friends 2 is a near-worthless experience. While the original film was fun and energetic, the sequel is dull and lifeless. There is not a single narrative arc that leads to anything worthwhile when it comes to either comedy or drama with fun performances ultimately being wasted. Whether this was due to laziness by the filmmakers or the studio behind the project, Vacation Friends 2 is sure to get buried even deeper than the original film making its entire existence worthy of questioning. Why couldn't this effort and money be put towards something original that at least would possibly be able to catch the eye of viewers without praying they would be willing to first check out an entire other film that already had a lack of attention and passion behind it? It makes no sense, but that has become a regular theme for Hulu which continues to struggle to create an identity in the packed world of streaming services.
