The Inbetweeners 2

It’s the biggest opening of the year so far. Blockbusters like Guardians of the Galaxy and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes have been knocked off the top spot of the UK charts as audiences favour our equivalent of American Pie. The series of the Inbetweeners has become quite a cultural phenomenon in Britain, it’s popular among the teenage audience, and this is set to be the last instalment of the series.

Well I should start by saying that this film is fantastically funny. It manages to succeed in the first area that a comedy film should, it makes you laugh. The main question I should be asking though is, is it better than the first one. Well, that’s a very good question indeed. The sequel has the same brand of comedy but manages to avoid falling into a mess of predictable scenes. Nearly everything is unexpected and hilarious as a result.

If you enjoyed the series then you will enjoy this, it’s paced quite nicely as well. It manages to keep the plot and humour running simultaneously with no let down in either at any point. Too many comedy films sacrifice one of these in the process of creating a credible film. But instead it maintains a good balance of both. It is a real contender as 2014’s funniest film.

However, there are flaws. The pacing is moderately good, but the film still feels a bit like a feature length episode of the series. The Inbetweeners will always remain a great series, but as a film it risks falling into the average category. The entire film lacks a certain ambitiousness that would separate it from a normal episode. It’s impressive how they travel further and experience the world on a greater scale, even in the last few minutes. But the effect is in the details. Apart from being in Australia a lot of the antics are similar to those in Britain, they take advantage of the larger landscape as much as they can, but apart from that it feels like the budget has been stretched. I don’t want to be thinking that with any film.

It can also be said that the emotional ark crafted in the first film was better thought out. The character development effected every character and time was taken to include all of them in the story. In the sequel however, one character’s story holds the main focus of the plot, with another smaller one circling around it. Another that takes just ten minutes to complete and there’s no time at all left for the fourth. For the first film a good amount of time was devoted to all of the characters, equally taking the burden of the plot.

But don’t me mistaken. This is very funny and very entertaining. Who cares if there’s no underlying narrative, you will get exactly what you want to see when you see this film. The series is embodied very well, admittedly too well at times. But nevertheless, these four bumbling teenagers all captured our attention on the small screen, and what better way to bow out on the big screen in the land down under.

Result: 7/10