In 2019 director and star Josh Duhamel brought together the ensemble comedy Buddy Games starring Dan Bakkedahl, Kevin Dillon, Josh Duhamel, James Roday Rodriguez, Nick Swardson, Dax Shepard, Jensen Ackles and Olivia Munn. Never expected a sequel, but here we are with Duhamel serving double duty once again with all the original cast returning it appears except Olivia Munn and Dax Shepard. Could these latest games bring the laughs or will it not be worth playing?

 

Buddy Games: Spring Awakening follows friends, Faced with their biggest challenge yet, who set out to honor a lost friend only to find themselves in the middle of where it all began – Spring Break – where they learn their old school ways of partying hardly compete with today's generation.

 

I found the first movie to be entertaining so was interested to see if they would be able to capture any of the same fun as the original or if they would just rehash things, especially with one of the leads no longer returning. While it doesn’t always work, I did still find it pretty funny and an interesting direction to try and keep it similar, but still different. For whatever the reason Dax Shepard isn’t here, they used his characters death as the catalyst for the story. They also sidelined Rodriguez most of the film, but he does intermingle randomly throughout the film in some fun ways.

 

The gang all have great chemistry and look to be having a blast. The story is often times predictable and not all the jokes hit, but still manages to rack up plenty of laughs. We don’t get enough comedies like this these days where they just go off the wall and let it fly. Instead of just another round of the Buddy Games we get to see where it began and get more back story to why and how they started it all in some fun ways. Ripped off nipples, drug trips, cults, and family drama all take you on a journey with these life-long friends and their ridiculous adventure.

 

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