Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising takes place a couple years after the events of the first film. Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly Radner (Rose Byrne) are expecting their second child, and need to move to a larger home. After a bit of a struggle they finally manage to sell their house, but their cheers of joy are short-lived as they discover the concept of escrow—and that the buyers can back out at any time within the next 30 days, for any reason.

Elsewhere, Delta Psi alum Teddy (Zac Efron) is thrilled when his best friend/frat brother/roommate Pete (Dave Franco) gets engaged…until Pete asks him to move out so that he and his future husband can start building a family together. Teddy is the only one of his former frat bros who hasn’t done anything with his life. He still works as a salesman at Abercrombie, and is a good 6 years older than any of his coworkers. Meanwhile, all of his brothers have real jobs and have moved on to the next phases of their lives. Teddy starts to have a quarter-life crisis, and is desperate to find meaning in his life.

Meanwhile, college freshman Shelby (Chloë Grace Moretz) and her two new friends Beth (Kiersey Clemons) and Nora (Beanie Feldstein) are already fed up with the sexist parties thrown by the fraternities. And since the bylaws prevent sororities from throwing parties in their own houses, the girls decide to start their own Kappa Nu sorority where they can throw their own parties. In their search for a house, the girls happen upon the former Delta Psi house (which neighbors the Radners’). Teddy is crying about the current state of his life when he sees an opportunity to not only help teach the girls how to run their house and raise money for rent, but also as an opportunity to get even with the Radners, who are responsible for ruining his life and giving him a criminal record.

Once the Radners learn that a sorority has moved in next door, they try their best to get rid of the girls before their potential buyers find out. However, everything they do seems to backfire, and things only get worse—not just for the Radners but for Teddy as well. The girls eventually decided they no longer need Teddy, and give him the boot. So Teddy decides to turn the tables and switch sides, putting his talents to work helping the Radners in their efforts to get the girls evicted.

I think the premise of this sequel is actually quite good. It takes what worked in the first film—the Radners trying to get rid of an awful neighbor—and adds this additional layer of all of the characters dealing with moving on to the next stages of their lives. The Radners see these sorority girls and worry about their own daughter growing up; Teddy is having his quarter-life crisis and needs to learns to be more of an adult; and Shelby and her sorority sisters are trying to grow up way too fast.

Teddy is not the brightest bulb, and Zac Efron is a lot of fun in this role. There are so many hilariously-stupid one liners that he delivers perfectly. I swear this character got even stupider in this second film! I especially enjoyed a small scene where there’s a pot of boiling water and he of course puts his finger in only to realize it’s hot. Seth Rogen & Rose Byrne have such great chemistry and play well off one another—they feel like they could be a real married couple. Seth Rogen is a well-tuned comedian at this point and is great with the improv, while Rose Byrne also delivers a really funny performance with her constant cursing, Aussie accent and totally inappropriate behavior.

A lot of other fun, familiar characters also return for the sequel. Paula (Carla Gallo) and Jimmy (Ike Barinholtz) are back, and are also expecting a child. The frat bros have some really fun scenes catching us up on their careers. And the scene-stealing Lisa Kudrow is back as the college dean who just doesn’t want to get involved. There are so many great cameos that pop up throughout the film, including Kelsey Grammar as Shelby’s father, and Liz Cackowski & Billy Eichner as a pair of bickering realtors.

As for the newcomers to the cast, I thought that Kiersey Clemons and Beanie Feldstein really delivered when it came to the physical and scripted comedy. However, the weakest link by far in this film was Chloë Grace Moretz. I couldn’t tell if her acting was just really bad, or if she was playing the character exactly how the filmmakers intended. I’ve enjoyed her previous performances in other films, but with this one, it felt like I was watching a first-time actor who had no clue what to do. I think this film could have been a lot better if they had cast someone else in this role. In the final act, we’re supposed to feel some sympathy for Shelby, but I just had none to give.

While I did laugh quite a bit and enjoyed much of the film, the writing got a bit weak by the end of the movie. The pranks between Shelby and the Radners start off believable and innocent enough, but they quickly escalate to such ridiculous and unbelievable levels that it kind of took me out of the movie. In one prank Shelby messes with the Radners’ cell phones in order to start a fight between the couple. These two have been together for a long time and we are supposed to suddenly believe they fall for this, and wouldn’t try to contact a friend or relative before jumping to extreme conclusions or measures? When Mac can’t locate his wife, he suddenly flies to Sydney to look for her?! I find it hard to believe someone would suddenly jump on a 14+ hour plane ride after not being able to find their loved one for less than a half a day! Also, there are several times when the Radners are off working on schemes and their daughter is nowhere to be seen—who is watching their child?! This was just poor, lazy writing.

Overall, it felt like I was watching an unrated, over-the-top, cut of the film, with extra gross-out moments and excessive cursing. While this worked to add humor to the film—I enjoyed every inappropriate scene involving the baby holding a vibrator like a doll and Kelly’s constant cursing—there were also some scenes that felt like they were there soley for the shock factor. I was kind of surprised to discover that the Blu-ray was the same as the theatrical version—the filmmakers held nothing back this second time around!

The Blu-ray’s visual presentation is excellent, with a crisp, clean detailed picture that looks great both in the daytime scenes as well as the nighttime parties. The audio presentation provides clear dialogue but felt underutilized for much of the film, except during party scenes when the room is filled with sound. The discs are loaded with bonus features, including a filmmaker commentary, 24 minutes of deleted scenes, a gag reel, alternate takes, and another 25 minutes of interviews and behind-the-scenes featurettes. The discs come packaged in a standard Blu-ray keep case, along with a slipcover and an insert containing both a code for a Digital HD copy of the film as well as a second code for an extra bonus digital film.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:32:23)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.40:1
• Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English Descriptive Video Service, Spanish 5.1 DTS Digital Surround, French 5.1 DTS Digital Surround
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

DVD:

• 480p / Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40:1
• Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround, English Descriptive Video Service, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround, French 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Digital HD (for redemption deadline, see NBCUcodes.com):

• HD Digital copy redeemable via UltraViolet (Universal, Flixster or Vudu) OR iTunes
• An insert for a bonus digital copy is included, redeemable for one movie from the following list (expires 2/9/2017; while supplies last): The Guest, Airport, To Kill A Mockingbird, Racing Hearts, Reality Bites, Werewolf: The Beast Among Us, Fear, Sgt. Bilko, Scorpion King 3: Battle For Redemption, Death Race 3 Inferno

Extras:
(The same features can be found on both the Blu-ray and the DVD)

• Feature Commentary with Co-writer/director Nicholas Stoller and Producer James Weaver (1:32:23)
  Director Nick Stoller takes the approach of telling listeners about what he learned about making a movie sequel. Throughout the commentary he provides tips for aspiring filmmakers and writers. The participants also discuss the premise of the film, the cast, and the various things that did and didn’t work while testing the film with audiences. The commentary was recorded shortly before the theatrical release of the movie.
• Deleted Scenes (24:14)
  A dozen deleted scenes that provide some really fun material that didn’t make it into the film, such scenes showing both Kelly and Teddy quitting their jobs—the latter is probably my favorite of the deleted scenes. Another extended scene shows Shelby offering herself up to Teddy, and it was easy to see why this was cut—it just didn’t really work at all, and was another example of why I wish they had cast someone else in this role. Play All or select from “Never Drink The Punch”, “Projecting the Future”, “I’m Not Gonna Cry”, “We’re Not Bros Anymore”, “Future Pranks”, “Airbag Redux”, “You Are So Vascular”, “Do The Handshake”, “It’s Not Safe”, “Shelby Fights The Radners”, “A Normal, Friendly Conversation” and “Holes Before Poles”.
• Gag Reel (4:24)
  The usual fun gag reel fare including the cast cracking up, malfunctioning props, flubbed lines, phones and sirens interrupting takes, and a whole string of F-bombs.
• Line-O-Rama (4:48)
  Hilarious alternate takes for some of the film’s improvised lines, rants and punchlines.
• Nu Neighbors (8:09)
  The cast and filmmakers talk about the challenges of making a sequel to first film, and discuss some of the early ideas they had for the story, the stunts, the air bag callback, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with co-writer/producer Evan Goldberg, co-writer/director Nicholas Stoller, producer James Weaver, special effects supervisor Russell Tyrrell, stunt coordinator J.J. Dashnaw, and actors Seth Rogen (“Mac”/co-writer/co-producer), Carla Gallo (“Paula”), Chloë Grace Moretz (“Shelby”), Zac Efron (“Teddy”), Kelsey Grammer (“Shelby’s Dad”), Selena Gomez (“Phi Lamda President”), Rose Byrne (“Kelly”), Beanie Feldstein (“Nora”), Brian Huskey (“Bill Wazakowski”) and Ike Barinholtz (“Jimmy”).
• The Prodigal Bros Return (5:01)
  The brothers of Delta Psi talk about getting the gang back together for the sequel and how the characters have evolved since the first film. Includes behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Zac Efron, Dave Franco (“Pete”), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (“Scoonie”) and Jerrod Carmichael (“Garf”).
• Girls Rule (6:14)
  The cast and filmmakers talk about the premise of the film and the different personalities of the Kappa Nu girls and the actresses who play them. Includes behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with co-writer/director Nicholas Stoller, producer James Weaver, and actors Chloë Grace Moretz, Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Beanie Feldstein, Kiersey Clemons (“Beth”), Liz Cackowski (“Wendy the Realtor”), Ike Barinholtz, Awkwafina (“Christine”), Clara Mamet (“Maranda”).
• The Ultimate Tailgate (5:09)
  A behind-the-scenes look at the film’s action-packed tailgate sequence. Includes interviews with co-writer/director Nicholas Stoller, co-writer/producer Evan Goldberg, Mac double Randall L. Archer, and actors Beanie Feldstein, Kiersey Clemons, Clara Mamet, Awkwafina, Chloë Grace Moretz, Ike Barinholtz and Zac Efron.

Final Thoughts:

While not quite as good as the original, Neighbors 2 still provides many laughs thanks to strong performances by the returning cast members. The things that weighed this sequel down for me were a sub-par performance by Chloë Grace Moretz, and a bit of a messy, unrealistic third act. The Blu-ray provides an excellent picture, the disc is loaded with entertaining bonus material, and set includes both a digital copy of this film as well as a bonus digital movie. All told, the good outweighs the bad, making this release definitely worth a look for fans of the first film.