This review was originally published on a separate site in March 2015
In 2011, the big screen continuation of the hit E4 series The Inbetweeners was an unimaginable success. Whilst the series had grown from strength to strength in terms of ratings - ending on a channel high of nearly 4 million viewers - no one could have imagined that the film would do well. Luckily for the crew of the film, it managed to earn its budget back and then some in its opening weekend alone, later finishing with more than £57m worldwide. A sequel, of course, was inevitable, finally confirmed in 2013 after much outcry from fans. This sequel, released one year on from the announcement, received similar reviews to its predecessor and comes across as the end of this series. And from my experience of the series, I say good riddance.
Set a few years after the first instalment, it's revealed that three members of the quartet have split from their designated flings (the remaining girlfriend now a possessive obsessive running gag) and that Jay (James Buckley) has taken a year off from university to live in Australia, where he claims to be 'living the good life'. When he invites the rest of the gang down under for a holiday break, Will Neil and Simon (Simon Bird, Blake Harrison and Joe Thomas respectively), they agree to reunite, only to find Jay instead working at a club rather leading one. When discovered, they decide to go on a journey across the land where, as expected, hilarity ensues. Will bumps into an old friend (Emily Berrington) and is instantly attracted to her - much like in the first film - Simon goes through the motions of failing to break up with the abusive Lucy (Tamla Kari), Jay decides to reunite with previous lover Jane (Lydia Rose Bewley) and Neil goes on a spiritual journey to discover what dolphins like to eat. Yes, that is his sole story purpose - a running gag which ends with unhilarious results.
Comedy sequels are always hard to do. You either go through the motions again like the Hangover trilogy or continues the characters' stories to the next stage like with Anchorman. Neither are exactly great examples of comedy sequels, but they did well at their sole purpose - profits. The Inbetweeners 2 goes through the former path, putting the characters back to where they were to begin with (three of the four being single, one pining for a former lover, attempts to get with new people, jokes revolving around a pool, etc.) thus losing a lot of the character development that we followed before. Big mistake that. And whilst it's nice to have a new bit of scenery, it's doing the Hangover effect of new country, same jokes. The only change for these characters is that now Simon wants to break up with his girlfriend rather than rekindle with his last one - and with that it loses the journey the character went through in the last film, in which he finally gets the opportunity to get back together his with ex but decides against it and to go to Lucy instead. It's comedy for the sake of comedy rather than for the sake of continuity. It should also be noted that there is no actual explanation for these break-ups. Jane's is given perhaps the smallest of details about the split, but the disappearance of Alison and Lisa has no explanation whatsoever and no lasting effect on the film, allowing for the characters to revert to how they were.
It doesn't help that the comedy that these elements sacrificed themselves to make is practically absent. That's not to say there aren't any jokes (of course there are, it's a comedy), but instead that at no point is there anything to laugh about. Whether it's a turd in the face or suspected rape, there is nothing funny unless you have the prowess to even tolerate such gags, let alone fall over in hilarity. It should also be pointed out that a lot of these jokes do fall foul to being somewhat discriminatory towards women, not only by not developing the female characters much outside their designated traits of obsessive or promiscuous but also through the jokes they actually use, mostly describing them as objects for sex. I thought we had gotten past this style of comedy, but every so often it comes back in full force. It's just thankful that they decided against repeating the gag from the teaser trailer about the natives because that would be another step too far.
Comedy films are never fully appreciated for the performances or the aesthetics, as it allows for the crew to simply have a lot of fun on set. In the case of The Inbetweeners, it follows the Adam Sandler effect: making audiences pay for the cast and their friends to go on holiday, where they have to film a few bits and pieces which make a narrative so that audiences can watch. It's what so many have complained about for the likes of Grown Ups and Blended, and it's evident that it's the same for this series, as it's not like the actors are really trying. At this point, it is evident that some of the actors are willing to let go of their roles and move on, and as such cause some very forced dialogue. Of course, there is chemistry between the main group, but they barely connect with anyone who wasn't in the original series, which leaves the sole good relationship being between Will and Freddie Stroma's Ben, solely because they're meant to come across as alienated by one another, whilst there is little innovation for the direction or cinematography.
Comedy is something of a lost art, so it always causes great pain when a bad comedy does well. It’s worse that a terrible comedy was the second-highest grossing UK-made film of last year (thankfully being beaten by the delightful Paddington). I thought the first film was really bad, but this was like having that first film constantly throw bodily waste into my face and rub it in. It's pure codswallop, and even more reason for me to avoid watching the main series. If this is what fans consider gold, then I'm fine with being a hater. 1/10.
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