Horrible Bosses 2

Horrible Bosses 2 Review

How was Horrible Bosses 2, you ask?

If you care what the plot of this movie is, I’ll half-assedly describe it to you (I would whole-ass it, but I don’t want to give this movie the satisfaction). Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis), and Dale (Charlie Day) are back and this time they’re their own bosses. Ah, Sean Anders and John Morris, you screenwriting mavens you! That twist was so subversive and totally deserving of a sequel! Anywho, the trio invents a new shower fixture and tries to sell it off to Burt Hanson (Christoph Waltz, who is still trying to make that American accent happen) and his shitty son Rex (Chris Pine, who is excellent here but seems to be investing that Star Trek goodwill in all the wrong places). Surprisingly (not surprisingly), our heroes are absolutely incompetent and don’t get the deal in writing. After Burt screws them over, the pals try to recover their life savings by hatching an illegal plan that involves “Motherfucker” Jones (goddamn Oscar winner Jamie Foxx), Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green, WHY) and David Harken (Kevin Spacey, who now wears an earring). Shenanigans ensue, and they’re a big bag of “I literally saw this in the first movie, you bastards.”

You get the sense from watching Horrible Bosses 2 that no one in this movie really wants to be there. With each lazy joke that the actors half-heartedly present to the audience, you watch their eyes subconsciously plead with you “please don’t tell anyone to see this movie. If you make me film a third one I might just kill myself. Do you want blood on your hands??!!”

Horrible Bosses 2

With the right amount of commitment, even the stupidest handjob joke can work. Here, however, there’s no real joy, just the sound of cash registers in the background. I wanted to believe in these dick jokes. I really did. I thought 22 Jump Street was pretty decent and was hoping this movie could bring at least 50% of the hilarity of its predecessor. I was also rooting for the actors. I think Sudeikis is one of the best comedians to ever come out of SNL and Jason Bateman… well okay, I stopped believing in Jason Bateman ever since Hancock, but CHARLIE DAY guys. I wanted to like this so badly for my tiny bearded fairy prince, but I just couldn’t. While I’ll admit the movie did make me laugh out loud a few times, those moments were purely derived from the actors’ expressions and endearingly spastic physical comedy. Despite how charming the whole cast is, there is no amount of improv that could salvage a two hour movie from what is ultimately a very lazy script. This cast deserved better than a screenplay that only has ten-minutes worth of good jokes in it.

And there you have it. Horrible Bosses 2 isn’t horrible. It’s just kind of lame.

Don’t see this movie. Don’t encourage them to keep making sequels to great, original comedies when they know that each subsequent film will be decidedly less funny. And if you simply must see it, wait until it’s on a streaming service.



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