This sequel to the first film, which itself was a follow-up to the entertaining USA Network series, does some things better than the first film and some not as well.
The first film made the mistake of trying to squeeze in so many familiar faces that the plot got away from it. The story, while having some pretty fun villains, also felt a little bare. This one is stronger. Psych 2 feels like the show as there is more focus on the mystery and the story in general, not to mention that there is a lot more of the trademark rapid fire funny remarks of fake psychic Shawn (James Roday) and his friend Gus (Dulé Hill).
On the other hand, this film suffers from the same issue as the last one: Things just feel stretched out. The movie is written by people who worked on the show and they haven't quite nailed how to evolve Psych from episode to feature length. Also, this movie misses some of the bigger swings and more energetic moments from the first.
I do like that Psych 2 carried over and double downed on a couple of the plot elements they introduced last season instead of forgetting about them.
The most pleasant part about this is the return of Lassiter (Timothy Omundson). The grumpy, tightly wound foil to Shawn had to be mostly written out of the last movie when Omundson suffered a stroke. Luckily, the actor has recovered enough to appear here. He's not in 100% condition (I mean, he suffered a stroke), and the writers were smart enough to have him recover from a similarly debilitating incident. I saw an interview with Omundson and the movie appears to be specifically looking at the struggles he has had to go through. Lassiter hands down has the best subplot and journey in what is a poignant look at the man at his lowest.
There is one aspect of Lassiter's story that felt odd. I know that I complained about the character nods in the last film, but you'd think you'd see at least some of his family members hanging around while he is recuperating in a hospital.
Psych fans will enjoy this. Not the best work but still entertaining. If you're new to Psych, though, this probably isn't the best entry point. You can find this on NBC's new streaming site Peacock. It has a free tier, just be prepared to sit through a few commercials at the beginning.
