The movie Happy Gilmore has become one of the biggest sports movies ever to come out of Hollywood. Released in 1996, it follows a man named Happy Gilmore (played by Adam Sandler) joining the world of golf and becoming a pro. Ever since he was a kid, he loved hockey; he had dreams of going pro. But he never made the team. Every year, Gilmore tries out for the same team but gets cut again and again. But he doesn’t try out again as he starts learning how to golf to save his grandmother’s house from the IRS. Due to being able to hit the golf ball very far, he starts betting against other golfers to see if they hit farther than him. He grabs the attention of Chubbs Peterson (Carl Weathers), who was a golf pro until his hand was bitten off by a crocodile. He persuades Gilmore to golf, as it makes a lot of money, and Gilmore learns and signs up for the upcoming golf tournament. Gilmore does very well and is able to play on the world tour, where he meets his love, Virginia Venit (Julie Bowen) and his rival, Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald). McGavin is upset with Gilmore as he is becoming more popular and “destroying” the game of golf. Shooter buys Gilmore’s grandma’s house at an auction, and Gilmore makes a bet with him to get his grandma’s house back. If he loses, Gilmore must quit golf forever. (Spoiler alert!) He wins the tournament and gets his grandma’s house back. The movie made approximately $39 million dollars globally. Due to its huge success, people wanted more, but a sequel did not come out for a while, until July 25th, 2025, when Happy Gilmore 2 came.
Happy Gilmore 2 is set 29 years after the first one. Gilmore became one of the best golfers to ever play the game, winning 5 more championships after the first one. He also has 5 children (4 boys, 1 girl) with his wife. All was well until 2014, when Gilmore was playing in a tournament where he hit and killed his wife, Virginia. He quits golf and goes through an 11-year depression where he loses all of his money and starts drinking. Gilmore lives in an old, dangerous neighborhood with his daughter, Vienna (Sunny Sandler). Vienna is a good dancer which gets her accepted into a famous dance school in Paris. It costs $300,000 ($75,000/4 years). To earn money for her tuition, Gilmore goes back into the world of golf and plays really well and then loses all of his money due to his drinking problem. But Happy is recruited to help save the world of golf. Happy and four other pro golfers (Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Brooks Koepka) have to play against a group of golfers from a new league called MAXI created by Frank Manatee (Benny Safdie), which introduces a new, fast, and flashy version of golf. This new group of golfers can hit the ball farther than Happy, and the golf course is way different with many obstacles. But Shooter McGavin helps them get ready. Manatee recruited him to help win against Happy, but McGavin didn’t agree with Manatee’s version of golf and started coaching Happy and the other golfers instead. (Spoiler alert!) In the end, Happy wins and saves the world of golf and is able to pay for his daughter’s dance school, as he made a bet with Manatee.
Even though Happy Gilmore 2 had 46.7 million views the first three days and is considered a success, it was rated 62% on Rotten Tomatoes, 6.1/10 on IMDB, and 2.7/5 on Letterboxd and is considered “forgettable, unnecessary, and a reminder that some classics are better left alone….”
My opinion: I did enjoy the movie. I liked the perseverance of Happy in the movie of how he transforms from a depressed alcoholic to a world champion. There are multiple cameos from people like Eminem, Post Malone, Bad Bunny (Happy’s Caddy), and multiple pro golfers. I also liked how they included multiple references to the first movie. An example is when Eminem comes and annoys Gilmore during his swing, mirroring the original guy in the first movie that kept saying, “Jack***”. I also liked how they brought back Shooter McGavin and how he helped win a round of golf in the competition to remember how good he was in the first movie. It didn’t blow me away like the first Happy Gilmore, but I think it is a great watch for the family and was a pretty good sequel.
