★★★☆☆
A comedy sequel that nobody needed, Bad Neighbours 2 nonetheless features a fabulous scene-stealing performance from Zac Efron, piquant social commentary and a dazzling gag-per-minute ratio from its five credited screenwriters.
The plot premise, and part of the meta-joke of comedy sequels (see 22 Jump Street) is to offer an exact replica of the first movie: a young suburban couple (Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen) have their life turned to hell by the arrival next door of a college fraternity.
The one notable difference is that this time the party animals are girls and the frat house is home to an equally riotous sorority led by Chloë Grace Moretz’s chief hedonist, Shelby. The gender switch is a stroke of genius that allows the writing team the chance to pillory the frat-boy world: “It was super-rapey in there,” says one of Shelby’s friends, correctly, as she emerges from a traditional fraternity party. They also lightly interrogate the limits of sexism debates and the terms “men’s rights” and “reversed sexism” are repeatedly up for ridicule.
The character work from the lead performers is seemingly effortless. Byrne and Rogen make a credible screen couple and Efron’s turn as the 28-year-old himbo pining eternally for his college days produces some memorable one-liners. Typically arch, for instance, and finally acknowledging his status as a popular gay pin-up, is his 11th-hour pronouncement “For some reason gay guys just respond to me.” The film gets messy by the end and the formula inevitably wears thin, but it’s classy, in its own way.
Nicholas Stoller, 15, 92min