I Gave In to <em>Happy Gilmore 2</em> and Loved Every Single Minute

I gave in sometime after Happy Gilmore 2 killed Julie Bowen with a golf ball and dropped "Tuesday's Gone" for the first (yes, first) time, but definitely before the Masters champion, respected mental health advocate, and generally sweet Irishman Rory McIlroy was on the receiving end of a titty twister.

Actually, no. It was when Bad Bunny lubed up Travis Kelce with honey and invited a CGI bear to eat him alive. That's when I silently told Adam Sandler that he won, damnit—and that no matter how many times he'd drink booze from a cucumber across Netflix's sequel to 1996's Happy Gilmore—I would shut up and enjoy it. Because I live in a world where President Big Mac is about to throw hands with Eric Cartman, which means that I'm entirely allowed to enjoy one (1) uncomplicated screening of Happy Gilmore 2.

Readers, golf enthusiasts, Sandman fanatics: the 58-year-old comedy legend's first legacyquel is here: Happy Gilmore 2, which is now streaming on Netflix. Sandler has delivered sequels to his work before (this is how we ended up with two Grown-Ups films and three Hotel Transylvania entries), but this is the first time he's made a continuation of one of his beloved comedies from the '90s and '00s. And if you want to know if Happy Gilmore 2 is good, up front, then you're asking the wrong question, my friend. But we'll get to that on the back nine. Just know that I loved every single minute.

Happy Gilmore 2 sees Adam Sandler lean even further into his late-stage dad charm.

So, what's the also-58-year-old Happy Gilmore been up to since the events of the last film? Well, he enjoys the life of a sports legend (right down to faux SNL appearances featuring a de-aged Sandler), until a wayward drive kills his wife, Virginia (Julie Bowen). He falls into a drunken spiral and quits golf—until his daughter, Vienna (Sunny Sandler) needs money to go to ballet school. Cue the training montage, Big Bad (played by Benny Safdie, who channels Ben Stiller's Dodgeball villain to brilliant effect), and bit roles from a murderers' row of Sandler associates, old and new: John Daly, Marcello Hernandez, Bad Bunny, Nick Swardson, Kevin Nealon, and many more. Of course, this road leads him to his old foe Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald, who hasn't missed a beat). Eventually, in a ripped-from-the-sports-headlines plot, Gilmore must defeat an upstart golf league that thinks the sport is so boring that it needs obstacles and a shot clock.

Did we need Happy Gilmore 2? No, we absolutely did not. Am I happy that it exists? Absolutely. While coming nowhere near the heights and ingenuity of its predecessor, Happy Gilmore 2 is still a blast, with every cameo tuned directly into Sandler's comedic frequency. Old-timers Steve Buscemi, Stiller, and Nealon make the most of their appearances. But it's the newcomers—Bad Bunny, Hernandez, Margaret Qualley, and especially Daly—who seem to have immediately understood the Sandler-verse's blend of maximalism, deadpan delivery, slapstick comedy, and a dash of gross-out humor. Even the best player on the PGA Tour right now, Scottie Scheffler, nails his gags—especially a wink-wink moment that I won't spoil for you golf loyalists.

As per usual with a Sandler-sanctioned story, you don't have to squint terribly hard past the recurring bad-breath gags to see where the actor's heart is at nowadays. (Aside from, you know, the opportunity to enlist the services of what feels like every living golf legend.) The actor has two daughters who are not only in this film, but are teenagers in flying-the-coop territory—and you can tell the man has fatherhood on his mind. Beyond his usual Sandlerian humor, the actor has played quite a few complicated fathers—look no further than Big Daddy, which this writer just so happens to believe is his best film. Happy Gilmore is no different. He also just so happens to be the father of teen children, and we see him go through legitimately serious struggles—including alcoholism and the death of their mother—to give his kids a better life. As always, it's a testament to Sandler's all-time dramedic chops that he can pivot between recovering alcoholic and you eat pieces of shit for breakfast in literal seconds of screen time.

Shooter McGavin as a friend—and no longer a foe—is one of Happy Gilmore 2’s best twists.

Now, you'll probably see quite a few reviews dunking on Happy Gilmore 2 and its shameless nostalgia plays this weekend. To that, I say two things: One, fair, and two, at this point in Sandler's career—where we know he can bust out an Oscar-worthy performance at any minute, yet chooses to make impossible-to-hate escapist comedy—we grade his work not only on a curve, but by wholly different benchmarks. Does it have Buscemi playing a creep who looks like he walked out of the "How Do You Do, Fellow Kids" meme? (Yes.) Does the movie end in a big ol' group hug? (Yes.) Does Rob Schneider appear from nowhere and scream something either nonsensical, or "YOU CAN DO IT!!!!" (Yes and yes.) By those merits, yes—Happy Gilmore 2 is a damn good movie.

My advice? Let it wash over you. Enjoy the sight of John Daly watching Love Island Australia. Bask in the vision of Ben Stiller's face superimposed on a golf ball. Let Sandman do as only Sandman can do—whisk you away from this doomed planet for two hours to laugh at Eminem's fake beard.