HORRIBLE BOSSES 2 (R)
Released by Warner Brothers
Review by Adam Mast
I said it before and I’ll say it again; sequels are tough enough. Comedy sequels are the kiss of death. Very seldomly are comedy sequels able to re-capture the magic that made their predecessors work. Yes, a lot of that has to do with expectation, but a lot of it has to do with the novelty wearing off.
In the past year, we’ve seen sequels to ANCHORMAN and DUMB AND DUMBER and while neither of those films were bad, they simply couldn’t live up to the inspired lunacy that paved the way for their existence. Enter HORRIBLE BOSSES 2, a follow-up that, at the very least, doesn’t have the added pressure of having to live up to the memory of a movie that came out at least ten years earlier. The first movie is less than three years old.
HORRIBLE BOSSES 2 re-unites buddies Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis), and Dale (Charlie Day) and finds the hapless trio in trouble after a ruthless investor (played by Christoph Waltz) backs out of a deal that could have potentially earned them a sizable amount of cash. Now, Nick, Kurt, and Dale must figure out a way to outwit their adversary, and they attempt to do so by teaming up with a most unexpected individual. As they plot their scheme to take back what’s rightfully there’s, they bump into a handful of familiar faces along the way. Included; Kevin Spacey’s blowhard Dave Harken, Jennifer Aniston’s nymphomaniac Dr. Julia Harris, and Jamie Foxx’s mysterious Dean “MF” Jones.
It’s clear that Bateman, Sudeikis, and Day have chemistry, and they do bring some big laughs to the table, but ultimately, HORRIBLE BOSSES 2 is a little too slight and labored to work as a whole. It simply plays like a less funny version of the first movie. There are a lot of do-overs here, as well. The big complaint I keep hearing in regard to DUMB AND DUMBER TO is how recycled the gags are and that’s HORRIBLE BOSSES 2, tenfold.
Again though, I did laugh on multiple occasions and Chris Pine is an absolute riot as a cocky, shifty son-of-a-bitch who’ll do just about anything to get what he wants. He’s got a couple of FIGHT CLUB moments in this picture that are an absolute hoot and every time he’s on screen, he kicks the energy level up a notch.
HORRIBLE BOSSES 2 certainly isn’t horrible. But again, it’s slight. It also feels a little unnecessary which is a shame because I had hoped this flick would pull off a 22 JUMP STREET instead of being more akin to something like THE HANGOVER 2. Mercifully though, I did enjoy this follow-up more than the Hangover sequel because at the very least, the makers of HORRIBLE BOSSES 2 had the good sense to throw Chris Pine into the mix in a valiant effort to shake things up a bit. They almost pulled it off but unfortunately, “almost” isn’t enough when it comes to comedy sequels.
