The intent of the cultural commentary in the original Fight Club remains up for debate, but it was pretty on the nose. Both film and novel have a rather dim view of modern consumerist culture, with The Narrator substituting any sort of rich interior life in favour of filling his home interiors with all sorts of expensive Ikea-chic furniture. They go on to make wider points about the state of masculinity in the contemporary United States, which are a little harder to swallow, unless you frequent certain subreddits and are somehow blind to the actual state of the world. The latter point may come up again, but otherwise it seems like Fight Club 2 has different targets in its sights. It makes sense Palahniuk is twenty years older than when he wrote his first story, after all, and both his and The Narrator's concerns have changed. So, Fight Club 2 appears to be exploring themes of domestication, marriage, addiction to prescription drugs and other unfortunate relapses.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
