Movie Review: Happy Gilmore 2

It's likely not a stretch to say that I've watched the 1996 film Happy Gilmore more than fifty times since it came out on February 16 of that year. It seems to be on television every now and then for a weekend movie series, and it's still pretty funny today. In saying that, I had some time this morning to kill as I working on something else, and that gave me the opportunity to tune into Adam Sandler's newest romp on the fairways in Happy Gilmore 2. The early reviews I had read on Saturday evening were mixed at best, so I wanted to see if the jokes were still funny, the cameos were still as good, and the stars of the show continued to score big on the golf course. Was Happy Gilmore 2 a solid laugh after thirty years, or would this long-awaited sequel be a shank at the bottom of a fairway pond?

Let me be quite upfront in saying that I wasn't expecting any Academy Award-winning acting in this movie. Based on how the first movie was panned by critics everywhere who seem to forget that comedies aren't supposed to be life-changing dramas, I was hoping that Happy Gilmore 2 would continue to score some goofy laughs while bringing cameos from the golf world into Happy Gilmore's golf-by-mistake world. Instead, I found myself surprised by the film.

The movie is filled with flashbacks to the first movie and to the time in between the two movies as the story builds. Julie Bowen's Virginia Venit plays a large part in the plot, but not in the way that one may think. I won't spoil the film here with key details, but Bowen's inclusion in the film is a welcome presence, and I wish she was actually used more than just in the way she portrayed her character.

It's hard to imagine Sandler and writing partner Tim Herlihy having to rewite the entire script, but you may have heard the recent story about the duo needing to rewrite the movie after Carl Weathers passed away. It's a bit of a shame because it seemed like Sandler really wanted to give the character of Derick "Chubbs" Peterson a fantastic backstory, but everything changed with Weathers passing away at age 76. Not for nothing, that's a movie that I'd like to see.

Of course, the main rivalry in the first movie returns, albeit later than expected, in the second movie as Christopher McDonald's Shooter McGavin plays a large role in furthering the plot of the movie. McDonald embraces the same undying hatred for Gilmore as he did in the first movie, but there comes a point in the film where the protagonist and antagonist finally work out their differences. How they do that needs to be seen, but let's just say that having Shooter back on the course brings back the biggest part of the original movie. No matter what he does as an actor in the future, McDonald's portrayal of Shooter McGavin may be his most iconic role.

The story of Happy Gilmore 2 focuses on Gilmore's retirement with golf following a major trajedy in his life, and that spiral downward affects his family - four sons and a daughter - in a big way. What is discovered is that Gilmore's daughter, Vienna (played by Sandler's daughter, Sunny), is a talented dancer and gets an invitation to dance at exclusive Paris ballet school that costs $75,000 per year. Needless to say, Gilmore needs to earn himself some big money quickly, and the family, including permanent house guest John Daly, convince Gilmore that he should get back to golf to win that cash.

To do that, Gilmore has to kick an alcohol addiction that was a running gag throughout the entire first half of the movie as anything that Sandler could imagine was turned into a flask. To kick the addiction, he ends up at an alcoholics' meeting where we are re-introduced to Ben Stiller's Hal L. who terrorized Grandma Gilmore in the nursing home in the first movie. Hal is running the alcoholics' meeting, but he seems to have the same attitude as he did in the first movie which rubs Gilmore the wrong way. However, he needs to make it through these meetings to play golf, so he bites his tongue while receiving positive encouragement on his path from meeting attendee Charlotte (played by Sandler's daughter, Sadie).

A chance meeting with Maxi Golf CEO Frank Manatee in a grocery store where Gilmore is working gives us the long arc and plot of Happy Gilmore 2 as Maxi Golf is looking to destroy the traditional game of golf with faster play, obstacles, and a seven-hole course that has all sorts of crazy holes laid out for golfers. Needless to say, Manatee (played by Benny Safdie) and his golfers appear to mimic the same idea that the LIV Golf Tour had in trying to upend the PGA Tour.

From this point on, you'll need to watch the movie because anything else I write could be considered spoilers for what happens. Needless to say, the hijinks and craziness seen in the original movie are brought back in Happy Gilmore 2, and the laughs follow as we see the likes of professional Tour Championship golfers Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, and Brooks Koepka join Gilmore for what turns out to be an outrageous finale in Happy Gilmore 2.

Honestly, the cameos in this film never stop, and it's almost hard to notice some of them with how fast they seem to appear on the screen. Among the notable people who return from the original film are Dennis Dugan who resumes his role as Tour Championship commissioner Doug Thompson, sportscaster Verne Lundquist who plays himself again, Kevin Nealon who plays Gary Potter again, and Robert Smigel who turns from IRS agent to lawyer. There are nice tributes to the late Richard Kiel, Happy's fan with the nail in his head; to the late Joe Flaherty, the "Jackass" guy hired by Shooter who loves The Sizzler restaurant; and, of course, to Carl Weathers.

If there's one person who had an incredible breakout role, it's Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio - better known as rapper and singer Bad Bunny - whose character Oscar Mejías steals a number of scenes. I honestly enjoyed Bad Bunny's portrayal of Happy Gilmore's caddy, and his efforts were the best of the bunch for those with long cameos in the film. Happy Gilmore's four sons - played by Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Philip Schneider, Ethan Cutkosky and Conor Sherry - are solid comic relief at times. Other notable cameos included Eminem, Guy Fieri, Steve Buscemi, former Happy Gilmore caddy-turned-professional golfer Will Zalatoris, and former NHL players Chris Chelios and Sean Avery! Oh, and there's some guy named Travis Kelce.

There are so many more cameos from famous people, so you'll have to watch the movie to see them all. What I want to stress is that this movie feels like a solid sequel that comes thirty years after the original, and it fits as a Happy Madison production in that it's a goofy, funny, not-to-be-taken-seriously Adam Sandler feature film. No, it's not going to win any Academy Awards. No, it won't be featured in any classic film study. No, it won't be in a Criterion Collection.

Instead, Happy Gilmore 2 is a fun, goofy, mildly-vulgar-at-times look at a hockey-player-turned-golfer trying to fix his life for him and his kids after everyting falls apart that becomes a story of the former golf outcast trying to save the sport that gave him so much... with the help of some people who were there for his first breakthrough thirty years ago. Happy Gilmore 2 brings the same twisted look at golf as it did in the original film, and all of Adam Sandler's friends and family get in on the action. Laugh at it - Happy Gilmore 2 is fun!

Teebz's Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5 stars)

Happy Gilmore 2 is streaming exclusively on Netflix. The movie was produced by Adam Sandler, Tim Herlihy, Jack Giarraputo, and Robert Simonds for Happy Madison Productions and Pro Shop Studios, and was released on July 25, 2025 exclusively on Netflix. Happy Gilmore 2 has a running time of 118 minutes.

Until next time, keep your clubs in the bag!