Happy Gilmore 2 is finally here after almost three decades, and it features several exciting callbacks and Easter eggs that will reward long-time fans of the original movie. There are so many funny jokes in Happy Gilmore 2 that remind audiences why Adam Sandler is such a prolific comic actor, but the film also has a touching sentimentality that pays homage to the original.
The sequel takes place ten years after Sandler’s protagonist has left the golfing circuit, as he decides to step out of retirement to help pay for his daughter’s tuition at a prestigious ballet academy in Paris. Much like the original movie, Happy Gilmore 2 is filled with cameos from both acclaimed actors and real-life athletes – and some of these characters have interesting ties to the original movie.
10
Happy’s Happy Place Grows Up
The Golfer Finds A More Mature Inner Peace
In Happy Gilmore, there’s a recurring joke that Happy needs to go to his “happy place” in order to calm himself down and prepare for those major game-winning moments. Originally, this happy place is a sunny golf course filled with slot machines, beer, and Virginia Venit in lingerie. In the sequel, his happy place has grown up alongside him.
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Almost 30 years after its original release, Happy Gilmore still holds up as one of Adam Sandler’s better movies of his illustrious 1990s period.
Instead of the immature pleasures of his youth, Happy dreams of his late wife, who chastises him for ever having such a juvenile happy place. It’s a touching way of bringing back this trope from the original movie while also developing Happy as a character.
9
The “Happy Gilmore Swing”
Happy Still Hasn’t Learned How To Swing Conventionally
Sandler always brings his unique brand of physical comedy to his movies, and that’s no different in Happy Gilmore. His character has a very unique way of driving a golf ball, running up to it and swinging the club like a hockey stick. It’s a brilliant visual gag, and it’s clearly become one of the character’s most recognizable assets in Happy Gilmore 2.
When Happy golfs alongside Margaret Qualley and Eric André’s characters at the beginning of Happy Gilmore 2, it’s this distinctive drive that ultimately makes them recognize him despite the half-hearted disguise. While it seems like a minor character trait at first, it’s small details like this that make Happy Gilmore 2 such a great, entertaining comedy.
8
Shooter McGavin Still Wants That Gold Jacket
The Golfer Hasn’t Lost Sight Of His Prize
Shooter McGavin is the main antagonist of Happy Gilmore, and the sequel somehow manages to make the rivalry between these two golfers even more extreme. It’s revealed fairly early in the movie that McGavin has spent the majority of his later life in a psychiatric institution – and he’s never given up his dream of getting the gold jacket.
Although Shooter and Happy manage to work together to defeat the Maxi Golfers in Happy Gilmore 2’s ending, the character still resents Sandler’s protagonist for earning the gold jacket in the original movie’s conclusion. However, the funniest difference now is that Happy doesn’t seem too interested in the gold jacket making Shooter’s desperation even sillier.
7
Eminem Calls Happy A Jackass
The Rapper Has One Of The Sequel’s Best Cameos
Throughout Happy Gilmore, it’s a known fact that Sandler’s protagonist doesn’t take well to being insulted. He clearly has anger issues, and he’s been known on several occasions to take these feelings out on whoever’s closest to him. In the first movie, it’s Joe Flaherty’s character who most frequently gets a rise out of Happy by calling him a jackass right before his most important drives.
Happy Gilmore 2 introduces Eminem as the son of Flaherty’s character, who continues his father’s legacy by jeering at Happy from the sidelines of the Maxi Golf tournament. Not only is this a really fun cameo that results in one of the film’s funniest moments, but tying it back to an original character from Happy Gilmore is a nice and subtle detail.
6
Like Father, Like Sons
Happy Passed His Anger Issues Down To His Kids
As mentioned, Happy clearly has some anger issues that make him a very unpredictable player on the golf course. This tends to cause some trouble for the protagonist; throughout the first movie, he can be found throttling his caddy, screaming at his golf balls, and reportedly stabbing people with ice skates.
Thankfully, Happy’s daughter Vienna (who’s played by Adam Sandler’s real-life daughter Sunny), doesn’t seem to have acquired this trait.
Unsurprisingly, this trait seems to have been passed down to Happy’s children. Each of Happy’s sons has the same propensity for violence, often fighting with their neighbors or using human dummies as punching bags. Thankfully, Happy’s daughter Vienna (who’s played by Adam Sandler’s real-life daughter Sunny), doesn’t seem to have acquired this trait.
5
Hal Returns As Happy’s AA Meeting Leader
Ben Stiller’s Character Has A New Look And New Job
Following the tragic death of his wife, Happy decides to start attending AA meetings to deal with his self-destructive behavior and alcoholism. But when he arrives at the first meeting, he soon realizes that things aren’t going to get any better when Ben Stiller’s exploitative Hal, the manager of Happy’s grandmother’s nursing home, walks through the door.
Stiller’s character is one of the highlights of the original Happy Gilmore, so it’s no surprise that Sandler wanted him to return for this long-awaited sequel. Although Hal ultimately gets his comeuppance, he spends much of Happy Gilmore 2 displaying the same selfish and exploitative behavior that made him a surprise antagonist in the first movie.
4
Happy Can’t Stop Accidentally Killing People
His Wife Is His Next Unintended Target
One of the funniest running jokes in Happy Gilmore is the idea that people keep dying in freak accidents around Sandler’s protagonist. First, his father is killed by an unexpected hockey puck to the head, and secondly, Chubbs Peterson falls out a window after Happy presents him with the head of an alligator.
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This running joke continues in Happy Gilmore 2, as returning character Virginia Venit is killed barely ten minutes into the film. She’s knocked on the head by one of Happy’s legendary drives, and Happy spends the rest of the film struggling to come to terms with her untimely death.
3
Bob Barker Is A Boss In Happy’s Video Game
The Video Game Recreates Several Scenes From The First Movie
The beginning of Happy Gilmore 2 really establishes the idea that Happy has become a major celebrity following his game-changing victory in the first movie. Not only was he an answer on Jeopardy!, but it’s also revealed that there was an in-universe video game made about him, which includes some key scenes from Happy Gilmore.
The video game includes a reference to Bob Barker’s role in Happy Gilmore; more specifically, the scene in which Barker punches Sandler’s protagonist for disrupting the golf tournament. Barker unfortunately passed away in August 2023, so this is a very touching way of paying homage to the prolific entertainer.
2
Chubbs Peterson’s Son Is A Mini-Golf Genius
Happy Seeks Advice From His Late Mentor’s Son
Following the passing of Carl Weathers in 2024, much of Happy Gilmore 2’s story had to be changed in order to work around the character’s absence. He appeared in the original movie as Chubbs Peterson, an amateur golfer who trains Happy and accompanies him throughout the tour. Although he’s not in the sequel, Weathers gets a touching tribute in Happy Gilmore 2.
Instead of turning to his old friend Chubbs for help getting back into the golf game, Happy pays a visit to Peterson’s son, who turns out to be a mini-golf genius. This new character is a really fun way of paying homage to Weathers’ involvement in the series without making the tribute too intrusive.
1
Will Zalatoris Is Happy’s Caddy
The Pro Golfer Is Retroactively Revealed To Have A History With Happy
Another member of Happy Gilmore 2’s cast that took audiences by surprise is Will Zalatoris, the American golfer who won the PGA Tour in 2022. However, he’s one of the few celebrity cameos in Happy Gilmore 2 who isn’t portraying themselves; instead, Zalatoris is revealed to be the caddy whom Happy throttled during his first year on the circuit.
For years, audiences have joked that the young caddy from Happy Gilmore (played by Jared Van Snellenberg) bears a striking resemblance to Zalatoris, so the golfer’s appearance in the sequel is clearly playing off this likeness. But it’s not just a fun reference – it’s also a really effective way of mapping Happy’s journey and showing how much he’s grown since Happy Gilmore.