Horrible Bosses – 3/5 – Movie Reviews by Ry!

Horrible Bosses 2 – 3/5 – Sequels to comedies; they can be something refreshing or just another rehashing of the first.  There are, for the most part, never any good comedy sequels; with only a few exception (22 Jump Street; American Pie 2).  To have a good sequel to a comedy, you have to at least do two things; be funny (no matter the story) and make the audience feel good with visiting the same characters again.  Horrible Bosses 2 is that sequel where it does take a chance in doing something different, but doesn’t have enough great elements in its ‘new’ approach to make it any better than average.

Premise: After being conned out of their new business venture; Nick, Kurt and Dale plan to pull off a harebrained and misguided kidnapping scheme.

With the returning cast coming back, the audience will just fall back into familiarity with the same faces again in this sequel.  Leading the pack are these three guys:

Jason Bateman as Nick

Jason Sudeikis as Kurt

Charlie Day as Dale

These three guys are the ‘bread and butter’ of this sequel.  No matter how standard the story is or unfeeling from other character, these three guys give you enough reason to want to see this film.  As a trio on the movie screen, they bring back that unique flavor of ‘down on your luck’ guys trying to find ‘alternative ways’ to get out of the bad situations.  Within in this, they are hilarious, rambunctious but importantly, feel like real characters you would associate with.  You will never feel that ‘forceful’ intent with their comical situations as everything is just fluid.  As you watch them interact, you get a mix between typical ‘one-liners’ and ‘improv’.  Even when the comedy is typical, there is enough banter to keep you laughing.  With the secondary cast, you have some new and old comers:

Jennifer Aniston as Dr. Julia Harris

Kevin Spacey as Dave Harken

Jamie Foxx as Dean ‘MF’ Jones

Chris Pine as Rex Hanson

Christoph Waltz as Bert Hanson

For the returning cast; they are a decent addition to this new sequel.  They help add additional ‘flavor’ to the comedic elements, but also they are basic ‘pawns’ to move the story or help the main three guys in the ‘hostage’ quest.  In short, these returners feel more like cameos then actual important characters.  For the newcomers, Pine and Waltz do a great job in providing complex pseudo-villain characters; and something different from the first film.  They are both charming and evil, but the hilarity in their interactions with the guys keep them entertaining throughout.

The direction is something you would find in any typical ‘comedy’ sequel.  You are introduced with a ‘return’ to the main characters in the prologue.  From here, you get a thrust of a ‘conflict’ for the main characters.  From here, you are lead down a path that is quirky, darkly and humorous to watch.  Even with a new interesting twist from the first film, the second one doesn’t divulge from the underline premise of the ‘three guys’ trying to ‘get back’ at someone that has done them wrong in their ‘working lives.  The main difference from murdering their bosses is that in this film, they take someone hostage (Rex Hanson) to get ransom money from someone (Bert Hanson) for conning them out of their business venture.  There is not much else to the story; except for a few twists in the second and third act.  Even with the plain story development and obvious cliché elements of the cameos, the focus of this film (and it does it fairly well) is on the three guys and how they weave through their moronic decisions and fateful encounters.  This is where the movie is at its height of comedic gold.  The three guys (Nick, Kurt and Dale) keep you on the edge of your seat laughing; guessing and trying to figure out what they are going to say, do or plot next.  You enjoy being on this ride with these three guys.  Once the film ends, there are some funny things in the epilogue, but it isn’t something to clamor as amazing.

The visuals of this film are typical views of the ‘city’ the film takes place; basically not having a real effect on the film.  The score is both interesting and non-existent.

Horrible Bosses 2 is that comedy sequel that does enough to make you laugh, but not enough to be comedic gold.  If you’re a fan of the first film, you’ll enjoy what you have here in the second film.  Even if you’re not a fan; if you like raunchy comedies, you’ll find something entertaining here; to watch at a matinee.