Grown Ups 2: Laughing to the Bank

Favorable reviews were few for Grown Ups 2 but not moviegoers. 

The North Shore set sequel earned an estimated $42.5 million in its opening weekend at the box office after debuting July 12.

The Adam Sandler movie, filmed largely in Marblehead and Swampscott last summer, trailed only Despicable Me 2, which took in $44.8 million in movie receipts July 12-14. 

Sandler’s Grown Ups franchise is proving to be the cash cow many people predicted it would be.

The sequel bested the earnings of the original movie — also panned by critics — over the first weekend.

Grown Ups’ opening weekend in 2010  totaled $40.5 million en route to piling up more than $271 million worldwide over its run.

It remains to be seen what the worldwide take will be for the 2013 version sporting the familiar cast of characters including Sandler, Kevin James, Salma Hayek, Chris Rock and David Spade.

What doesn’t remain remain to be scene is what most critics think of Grown Ups 2.

If there was such a thing, it would get three thumbs down.

Here’s a sample of the responses cited in a Huffington Post collection of reviews:

1. "Sandler's first actual sequel, 'Grown Ups 2,' is even lazier, dumber, and less funny than usual. It's worse than most comedy sequels, worse than most Sandler movies, and worse than most food-borne illnesses." -- Eric D. Snider, TWITCH

2. "Believe it or not, 'Grown Ups 2' is better than at least one other movie in existence, and that movie is 'Grown Ups.'" -- Katey Rich, CinemaBlend

3. "[Sandler's] the white Tyler Perry: smart enough to know better, savvy enough to do it anyway, lazy enough not to care." -- Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times

Grown Ups 2 earned a 7 percent approval rating from critics, Rotten Tomatoes said.

But the original didn’t do much better, receiving a little more than 10 percent approval rating back in 2010, according to Rotten Tomatoes.

The song remains the same.

Even if critics merely snickered, Grown Ups 2 fans laughed. By some estimates 90 percent of them gave the movie a thumbs up, according to the Indianapolis Star.

And meanwhile, Sandler and Columbia Pictures look like they might have the last laugh. The one on the way to the bank.