Not exactly comedy gold

The best thing about this film is zac Efron... and that’s something DAVID EDWARDS never thought he would write

HERE are six honest-to-goodness laughs in this comedy sequel – perhaps twice that if the sight of a toddler playing with a sex toy strikes you as funny.

Wobbly, uneven and dodgy, the best thing about this film is Zac Efron. And that’s a sentence I never thought I’d write.

Following on from the box office busting original of 2014, we return to the lives of married fortysomethings Kelly and Mac (Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen) who are now selling their home, having recovered from the horrors of having a frat house located next door.

The deal is put in peril when the neighouring building is taken over by the Kappa Nu sorority, headed by Chloe Grace Moretz, which is determined to party even harder than its predecessors.

Worst of all, the girls recruit the couple’s nemesis (Efron) as their ‘fun facilitator’.

The first film wasn’t exactly comedy gold but it worked as a comfort blanket for those worried about being uncool now they were approaching middle age, along with their attendant fears about being useless parents.

But with Bad Neighbours 2, our goodwill becomes awfully hard to sustain after a strong-ish start gives way to some embarrassing and desperately unfunny comedy set pieces.

Kelly and Mac steal the girls’ pot! The gals window-bomb them with their used tampons! Kelly and Mac try to explain away their toddler grabbing a sex toy (again)!

As for the performances, Rogen is running on autopilot having his regular trademark freak-outs while Moretz, with her butter wouldn’t melt looks, is an uneasy fit as a marijuana smoking rebel.

In the end, it’s down to Efron to prevent the whole thing nosediving into one-star ignominy as he gamely sends up his image as a none too bright gay pin-up.