“Happy Gilmore 2”: On par for a Sandler movie

In a world where the movie industry is consistently releasing live-action versions of childhood films, unwanted sequels and rushed reboots, the release of “Happy Gilmore 2” made me feel nervous it would also overstay its welcome. However, once the movie started, those feelings went away. 

“Happy Gilmore 2” does a great job at inciting nostalgia. The movie features several callbacks to the original 1996 comedy with characters, jokes and certain gags.  

The movie starts with Happy continuing his golf career until he accidentally kills his wife, Virginia, on a drive. From that moment, he gave up golf and became an alcoholic. 

After losing all their money and needing to send his daughter to a ballet school in Paris, Happy decides to pick up the clubs again to try and get some money. Following some hilarious shenanigans, Happy must team up with regular golfers to stop the launch of a new golf promotion, Maxi, that wants to ruin the game. 

With the characters Happy Gilmore, Shooter McGavin and Virginia Gilmore, fans of the original can be happy that some of their favorites are returning. However, there are plenty of new characters for newer fans to love. 

With it being almost 30 years since the original, a few characters were honored since the actors who played them had passed. Carl Weathers, who played Chubbs Peterson, Richard Kiel, who played Mr. Larson and Joe Flattery, who played Donald, are honored by appearing at the end of the movie in the sky smiling down on Happy. 

These characters are not replaced but are continued by their sons, who portray the next generation for Happy. Comedian Lavell Crawford plays Slim Peterson, NBA player Boban Marjanović plays Drago Larson and rapper Eminem portrays Donald Jr.  

While these fun cameos pay tribute to the past, there are plenty of other cameos that truly show how many people Adam Sandler knows. The entire movie is just a fun game of trying to remember where you know that person from. 

There were the real golfers like Jack Nicklaus, John Daly, Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau, but also other famous athletes like Travis Kelce, Kelsey Plum  and Becky Lynch. Celebrities got in on the fun too with appearances from Bad Bunny, Guy Fieri, Blake Clark and Margaret Qualley.  

While the stars were on set, Sandler and the writers were not afraid to poke fun at them. In one scene, Scottie Scheffler beats up one of the evil golfers and has to be arrested. 

Scheffler says, “Oh, not again,” referencing his real-life arrest in May 2024. The movie then keeps cutting to Scheffler sitting in his jail cell, enjoying his time. 

There are other gags that keep the audience laughing, like Slim Peterson having a comically fake hand just like his father, Chubbs, and the training montage Shooter and Happy put the golfers through to train. 

One new development made by the movie is the relationship between Shooter and Happy. After a quick fight scene at the cemetery, they see the hatred they had for each other dissipate and become friends. 

In the end, Happy defeats Maxi and forces the CEO to pay for his daughter’s ballet school due to a bet. His children move to Paris, while he resumes his golfing career on the PGA tour.  

This is not a groundbreaking movie. If you walked into this thinking that you were going to see “The Godfather,” then you will be very disappointed.  

However, if you walked into it knowing that you were about to watch an Adam Sandler movie, you would enjoy it immensely. It is not a revolutionary movie that will change your perspective of the world, but it does not need to be. 

For a 29-year-later sequel, the movie does its job. It plays the hits. It recreates old bits that they know the audience will love while making some new ones.  

It is a classic Adam Sandler comedy movie, and it keeps the audience laughing without overstaying its welcome. If you love 90s-style comedy, then you will most likely enjoy this movie.