Happy Gilmore is one of my favorite ’90s comedies of all time. I still prefer Billy Madison, but Happy Gilmore was a work of comedic genius from Adam Sandler. Now, 30-something years later, he’s finally made a sequel thanks to his partnership with Netflix, his long-time friends, and whoever managed to greenlight it. I’ve seen a lot of neckbeard incels online saying the movie was utter trash, but honestly, I enjoyed it a great deal.

The biggest drawback of the movie is that it kind of undoes all of Happy’s success from the first film. He’s down on his luck—he gave up golf, mismanaged his money, lost his grandma’s house, and now lives in poverty.

His daughter Vienna is his pride and joy, and she’s a pretty talented ballet dancer—both naturally gifted and hardworking. The problem? She’s offered the chance to attend a renowned ballet school in Paris, France, but the tuition is $75,000 per year… and it’s a four-year program. Vienna is played by Adam Sandler’s real-life daughter, Sunny, which I thought was a really sweet.

His other daughter, Sadie, has a cameo as a woman in an Alcoholics Anonymous support group. It was a bit strange because both sisters look so much alike—except Sadie is a bit older and has tattoos. Honestly, they probably should’ve given her a wig or something.

Happy’s one goal now is to get back into golf and win enough money to support Vienna’s dream. But it’s not easy—he’s lost his touch and needs a lot of help to get back on his feet. He’s offered an opportunity from a flashy company trying to “reinvent golf,” but Happy wants to keep things traditional—ironically, much like his old foe Shooter McGavin once did.

The movie does a great job bringing back old characters as an homage to the original. Some fan favorites, like Grandma Madison, Chubbs Peterson, and even the famous “jackass” heckler, couldn’t return due to the actors having passed away. But seeing Ben Stiller reprise his role as Hal L. was a huge highlight for me.

The new golf league, called “Maxi,” is hard to take seriously. It reminded me of the XFL that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson tried to revive—a lot of hype, flashy presentation, and cringey gimmicks. Honestly, there’s no way a league like that would ever dethrone the PGA.

Shooter McGavin’s return was a pleasant surprise. I won’t spoil anything major, but his storyline takes an unexpected turn that actually works really well. I was relieved because the predictable route would’ve made for a pretty boring film.

There are plenty of celebrity cameos, which some internet trolls say ruined the movie. Personally, I thought most of them were fine—though Travis Kelce was admittedly a bit too cheesy. I had no idea Eminem had a cameo until after the movie ended, which was a fun surprise.

Happy Gilmore 2 is not as good as the original, and I don’t think anyone’s going to seriously argue otherwise. But as a sequel made 30 years later, starring an actor who’s been accused of getting a bit lazy, and released on a streaming platform notorious for some truly awful movies, this was actually a pretty solid comedy. It’s cheesy, a bit sad at times, not super original, and runs slightly too long, but it’s still nostalgic and fun. I don’t think I’ll be rewatching it the way I do the original, but hey—you never know.