Grown Ups 2 - D-

Rated PG-13, 101 minutes

Adam Sandler and friends act like kids again in "Grown Ups 2"

Adam Sandler and the cast of "Grown Ups 2"

Let's say you grab a video camera, gather some of your friends, put on some silly costumes and wigs, jack around and act like buffoons for about 90 minutes. That's essentially what the dreadful new Adam Sandler comedy "Grown Ups 2," this totally unnecessary, woefully awful sequel to his equally terrible 2010 hit "Grown Ups," except the actors actually get paid for this piece of crap. In this outing, Sandler and his pals Chris Rock, David Spade and Kevin James goof off and hide from their lovely wives Salma Hayek, Maya Rudolph and Maria Bello, still trying to grow up and figure life out. "Grown Ups 2" is really not a movie about anything in general, it's just a silly, recycled string of gags badly strung together and a lousy excuse for Sandler and his pals to horse around in front of the camera once again. His usual director, Dennis Dugan, is listed as officially being in charge of this mess, but Sandler is to blame, assembling a large coterie of his usual movie pals (including Nick Swardson, Allan Covert and Peter Dante), not to mention a "Saturday Night Live" current and former cast reunion, including Rudolph, Tim Meadows, Andy Samberg, Taran Killam, Jon Lovitz, Colin O'Quinn, Cheri Oteri and (gulp) even Ellen Cleghorne. And in keeping with the Sandler stunt movie casting, throw in Taylor Lautner, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The J. Geils Band, Dan Patrick (the worst of them), Chris Berman and Shaquille O'Neal into the mix, and if you watch closely enough, Patrick Schwarzenegger, son of Arnold, cameos. After the critical drubbing (which is putting it lightly) of recent Sandler outings such as "That's My Boy" and "Jack and Jill," Sandler is seemingly not making much of an effort here, so something like this once again makes him an easy target as he becomes richer off his childish, mean-spirited antics. Admittedly, there are a small handful of genuinely funny bits and lines (thanks mostly to Chris Rock and some cheesy '80s costumes), but certainly not enough to fill even a halfway decent movie, which this isn't. Far worse than the first "Grown Ups," which isn't saying much at all, the dreadfully cringeworthy "Grown Ups 2" is among the worst of not only the summer, but all of 2013 so far. In keeping with true Sandler tradition, this should be in contention for many Golden Raspberry Awards, as Sandler and pals (shame on you Salma Hayek!) laugh all the way to the bank. If this is your idea of fun go for it, but just know what you're getting into isn't all that fun at all.

Wes's Grade: D-