Neighbors - Noodles Review

8 out of 10 Noodles

    Surprised by that rating? Me too. I'm not gonna lie, I didn't have high expectations for this movie. I am a guy who will admit when he is wrong though, and I'm happy to admit that I was kinda wrong about this movie. It's a not a comedy classic, but it was still actually really good! The premise of this movie is really simple and sets up for some great laughs that you almost feel like could happen (although they're greatly exaggerated). Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne are a young married couple who have baby daughter that's about six months old maybe. They just moved into a new neighborhood and they love it. And then the house next door gets some new tenants, too. A fraternity from the nearby university moves into the house next door. And basically, you know exactly where that's gonna go because it's a partying frat house next to a married couple with a baby. Neighbors could've gone one of two ways, the first of which being a stupid comedy filled with immature humor that doesn't end up good or funny. However, I'm happy it ended up taking the alternate route, even though it retained some immature humor. Mainly what was great about this movie was the chemistry between the actors. Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne were really great together. They really played off of eachother in every scene and you really got the feeling that they're married. Zac Efron, too, had great chemistry with Seth Rogen, as well as with the rest of his frat brothers.

    One of the main questions that'll be asked about this movie is: how was Zac Efron. Well I have one word to answer that: awesome. He has really succeeded in getting away from Disney and High School Musical because this movie will make you forget he was ever part of those. He's got some very funny scenes and he plays his character very well. And every male human being that watches this movie will probably feel bad about themselves once they seem him shirtless in this movie, so the ladies get a treat there. Nonetheless, I actually was pleasantly surprised by his talent, his ability to take on this potty-mouthed, douchy, immature, leader-type role all at the same time, and most of all his chemistry with the other actors. You got Dave Franco in this movie as the vice president of the fraternity and he's good too (although it's a little hard to get used to his accent or the way he talks) and McLovin is in the frat as well, along with a really funny black guy whose name escapes me. Seth Rogen plays Seth Rogen, just like in every movie he's in, and in real life; but there's nothing wrong with that because it still works for him. Rose Byrne is really great, I'm glad to see her hold up a comedy role because she was hilarious. A great thing about all this though is that these characters have depth. Most comedies nowadays don't really care to add depth to their characters, but this movie took the time to do so. Zac Efron's character has to face the reality of what life really is after he graduates college because it won't just be about being a legendary party-boy anymore. Dave Franco's character somewhat realizes that and actually looks for his future opportunities. While we have the adults, Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne, who have back stories and are sort of fleshed out so you can sympathize with them. Some other minor characters though were pretty unrealistic and annoying though, like the police officer or the dean of the college.

   It's not a laugh-a-minute type movie but it's nonetheless extremely funny and really entertaining all the way through. It's really outrageous and it's efficient with it's 90-minute runtime, which I'm glad of because it knew what it wanted to accomplish. This is an R-rated comedy, and it utilizes that because it's really raunchy and very vulgar; but, hey, we all know you're not planning on going with your grandma to see it so it does its thing for the people who actually wanna watch it. It also toed the line of too immature really well, it didn't quite go too far but it went the right length to make you laugh. Not all the jokes in the movie ended up punching all the way through but it was still entertaining regardless. There are some great scenes also that shoutout to some hollywood classics like a scene where Zac Efron and Seth Rogen are high and end up arguing over who's the better Batman (Christian Bale or Michael Keaton), and then a scene where the fraternity is having a Robert DeNiro party; they're hilarious. Like I said, Neighbors isn't perfect and it's not a comedy classic, but it was still really funny and entertaining throughout, I was pleasantly surprised. With 8 out of 10 Noodles, Neighbors is gonna be the comedy to beat this summer.