Makes the original film look worthy of praise

Rating: 3/10 (29 July 2015)

The only thing worse than an unnecessary sequel is a sequel that can't figure out anything new or invigorating to do with its material, so it resorts to recycling the same structure, humor, and plot-points from the original film. Meet the Fockers is a uniformly lazy picture, yet only slightly placing itself a few notches below its grossly overrated predecessor. The film all but affirms the purpose of its franchise's existence is to subject Ben Stiller to one lifeless comedic setpiece after another, to make Robert De Niro a continuously intolerable character, and to take a cast that practically oozes personality and make them a boring assortment of caricatures.
It all starts with the rehashed plot; this time, instead of Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) meeting his fiancée Pam Byrnes' (Teri Polo) parents, and enduring the awkwardness and uncertainty that follows, Pam, her notoriously strict father Jack (Robert De Niro), and her mother Dina (Blythe Danner) will travel from Oyster Bay, New York to Long Island by RV to meet Greg's mother and father. Also going along for the ride is Little Jack, Jack's one-year-old nephew who he simultaneously cuddles and teaches how to be a grown up despite still being an infant.
One of the first shocks to Greg's family is, despite Greg being so controlling and tightly wound, Greg's parents, Bernie and Roz (Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand), are so liberal and relaxed. The two welcome Jack and Dina with open arms, despite an evident behavioral shock taking place during casual conversation, as Bernie and Roz love to be open and free to discuss sex with their friends. Real drama, however, sets in when Greg reconnects with his old housekeeper Isabel Villalobos (Alanna Ubach), whom he slept with at a young age. Isabel now has a son that looks mysteriously like Greg and was birthed in a window similar to when him and Isabel slept together. As one can imagine, this causes immense discomfort between Greg and Pam, all while Jack is still trying to get Greg to fess up, as he believes he still isn't nearly as honest as he claims to be.
The overblown nature of these films is what kills their vibe; their unsubtle humor works against every joke in a way that discredits the situation and the subsequent events. These films would work much better had to been conducted on a realistic scale, but when you have a cat who can flush a toilet, a baby who hears over three dozen simple words a day, yet his first word is a polysyllabic profanity, Greg's parents are such mind-numbing dolts who have no idea how to treat guests, and their is the possibility of an illegitimate son nobody spoke about, then the film becomes so far off course in its narrative it might as well be science-fiction.
Furthermore, Meet the Fockers, as you'd expect, cops out with over a dozen jokes about Greg's birthname of "Gaylord Focker." This shows nothing else besides lazy writing on part of Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg, as they continue to cherrypick elements from the previous film. However, if Meet the Parents was good for anything, aside from being a sitcom display of humor, it was also slightly original and tapped into the nervewracking idea most men have when it comes to meeting their girlfriend or fiancée's parents. It reached out and explored that often unexplored area of anxiety and nervousness that stems from what should theoretically be a very positive and respectful time for both parties. However, due to the desire to not only impress, but wow, there is a discernible level of anxiety that takes over and frequently makes the first couple interactions so awkward and unsettling.
Yet Meet the Parents, as stated, what a sitcom display of such events; a bogus, redundant collection of overblown scenarios that Meet the Fockers replicates in an even more mediocre fashion. Talent that has proved themselves worthy of high recognition succumbs to the repetitive nature of situational antics, most of which fall flat on their face and provide nothing else for the characters to do besides frantically run around and scream bloody murder at every turn. Meet the Fockers is a monotonous exercise that, in turn, makes its mediocre predecessor appear worth of praise.
Starring: Ben Stiller, Teri Polo, Robert De Niro, Blythe Danner, Dustin Hoffman, Barbara Streisand, and Alanna Ubach. Directed by: Jay Roach.