John Cena Sequel No One Saw Coming Is Dominating Streaming
If anyone still needed proof that John Cena successfully transitioned from WWE champion to one of the best actors working in Hollywood today, look no further than Vacation Friends 2.
Following Cena’s star-making role in last year’s Peacemaker, Vacation Friends 2 is a raucous comedy that further proves Cena has a natural talent for humor. According to Flix Patrol, the surprise sequel to 2021’s Vacation Friends is currently the #1 movie streaming on Hulu.
John Cena’s Vacation Friends 2 is the #1 movie on Hulu
Vacation Friends 2 is again directed by Clay Tarver from a screenplay written by Tom and Tim Mullen. The sequel is only the second full-length film Tarver has directed, having previously helmed a handful of television episodes.
The cast once again includes John Cena, Lil Rel Howery, Yvonne Orji, and Meredith Hagner—the titular “Vacation Friends”—as well as newcomer Steve Buscemi. Hollywood veteran Buscemi plays the recently paroled father of Hagner’s Kyla and serves as a foil for his son-in-law, John Cena’s Ron.
Following the events of the first Vacation Friends, the sequel picks up a couple of years later when Marcus (Howery) and Emily (Orji) join Kyla and Ron on a new vacation, this time to the Caribbean. While there, Marcus is hoping to meet with a Korean hotel company in hopes of landing a contract to build a new five-star hotel back in Chicago.
Meanwhile, Kyla’s father, Reese, shows up fresh from San Quentin Prison and quickly clashes with John Cena’s Ron when he tries to rope his daughter into a cryptocurrency scam. What follows is a series of wacky vacation adventures that include a run-in with a drug lord, a disastrous surfing attempt, and even an exploding airplane.
Vacation Friends 2 was greenlit after the success of the original Vacation Friends. Announced in September of 2021, the sequel was originally titled Honeymoon Friends before being retitled at some point during production.
Director Clay Tarver and the cast, including a pre-Peacemaker John Cena, signed on right from the get-go with no hesitation. The movie was filmed on location with Oahu, Hawaii, standing in for the Caribbean island where the sequel takes place.
The movie arrived on Hulu on August 25, 2023, and quickly became the #9 most-streamed film across all streaming platforms in the United States for the week it debuted. Despite being a hit with audiences, the movie wasn’t received as warmly by critics. Vacation Friends 2 currently has a 20% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. While that number is worlds better than the 0% John Cena’s worst-rated movie, Fred: The Movie, earned on the aggregate site, it still leaves a lot of room for improvement.
Vacation Friends premiered on Hulu on August 25, 2023
The film’s low critic score is no reflection on John Cena’s talent as a performer—far from it. The wrestler-turned-actor has been repeatedly. turning in comedic performances the last few years that stand in stark contrast to his imposing physical appearance.
One look at Cena and you would think that his genre of choice would be straight-to-video action flicks, and while he may have started out playing a third-rate Schwarzenegger clone in generic action movies like The Marine, it wasn’t long before Cena’s talents were put to better use with comedic work.
Even in movies that blend the action and comedy genres, like 2021’s The Suicide Squad, it’s Cena’s joke delivery and comedic timing—especially in scenes like the one where he discusses consuming a beach full of detached phalluses—that really stand out. With no shade to the Rock, John Cena might be the funniest, swole AF ex-wrestler currently working in Hollywood. He’s just that good.
This is why, even if Vacation Friends 2 isn’t particularly groundbreaking in its approach to sequels, it’s still worth checking out for John Cena’s performance alone. Cena’s Ron was arguably the highlight of the first Vacation Friends, and that hasn’t changed when it comes to the sequel.
If you’re looking for something you can turn on while simultaneously turning off your brain after a long day, you could do a lot worse than Vacation Friends 2.
If you’re a Hulu subscriber and you like silly comedies, you don’t have to think about all that much; we highly suggest you give Vacation Friends 2 a chance. You can stream the John Cena comedy here.
