Twitter Plot Summary: The Inbetweeners are back, this time on a jolly down in Australia.
Five Point Summary:
1. Hands up anybody who thinks Jay may be lying?
2. Pretentious travelling types. Ugh.
3. The guitar sequence cannot be unseen.
4. The water park. Say no more.
5. The outback, without water. Clever.
Few could have predicted how insanely popular the first Inbetweeners movie was going to be. Spinning out from the popular Channel 4 sitcom, that film saw the four friends of Jay, Simon, Will and Neil head off on a sun-filled holiday where they met some girls, paired off and started to move on with their lives. It also made a ridiculous amount of money, so it seemed inevitable that a sequel would follow. The Inbetweeners 2 (imaginative title) picks up after Will and Simon have spent some time at university – which is proving to be a challenge for both of them, for different reasons – whilst Neil has been doing very little and Jay has upped sticks to Australia. After he sends the others a postcard stating how great it is over there (an excellent voice-over made real as Jay describes the benefits of Australian life in a fun, continuous montage sequence), they decide to fly over and visit where it turns out life isn’t quite so peachy.
Once more this is not a film for those who object to gross-out humour, nor for those who prefer their films to present an even keel when it comes to gender politics. Female characters aren’t portrayed in the greatest light, but then as it’s entirely about a bunch of generally misogynistic characters and their attitudes towards women rather than a true reflection of women in reality, there’s always going to be issues there. The female characters exist primarily to act as either romantic foils for the cast or to voice their disgust at their actions. Or, on occasion, both.
First time directors Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, who also wrote the script and created the series, prove themselves to be more than capable being placed in charge of the production. Their direction is confident and and belies the fact this is their first effort. They prove themselves to have a style that is fluid and unafraid to do things a little differently, which is perhaps a benefit given their writing background. They’re also fully aware of how they want their words to appear on screen, so if they had messed it up the fault would have been entirely theirs. Thankfully that isn’t the case.
The jokes are just as filthy as the first film and the preceding series, linking toilet humour with almost unbearably cringeworthy moments (beware any moment where a guitar is being played in a social setting) and the mandatory thought processes of four friends who find that they don’t quite fit in with the world around them. As Bowling For Soup once sang, high school never ends.
The four characters retain their loveable goofiness and the chemistry is still there between the four actors. There are a number of hints dropped throughout that their friendship may have reached an impasse, but there are enough threads left open just in case there are more adventures in life for them to experience. But then, will there be any more outings for The Inbetweeners? It’s looking unlikely, so unless they decide to reunite in 20 years and still run through the same old routine, we’ll just have to make do with what we have. This is no bad thing.
Score: 3.5/5
