Horrible Bosses 2 Review

The first Horrible Bosses movie was a fun and surprisingly quite enjoyable comedy being that there wasn't really anything like it at the time conceptually speaking. Sure, we've seen many films with your typical unbelievably terrible boss characters, but how often did we see a comedy movie that actually centered itself around the idea of illegally "getting rid of them". However, as rich with potential as it may have been, the issue with that movie came in the form of a lack of memorability and standout value in the market of modern day comedies. That being said, we were fortunately given a great ensemble cast with a naturally magnetic chemistry between the leading actors. 

This of course being the talented and now well established Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day who are certainly no strangers to the genre hold nothing back with their off the wall interactions with each other. Unfortunately for Horrible Bosses 2, this is by every definition a serviceable at best comedy and a sequel that doesn't entirely live up to the original. There was quite literally only one scene that had me legitimately laughing out loud, which for any comedy material that's a feature film length, doesn't look good on its resume. There is however the aforementioned great chemistry between the three leads that thankfully has never loses a beat from its predecessor.

That quick, snappy, and almost improvised feeling exchanges between these guys essentially acts as the engine that keeps these movies' entertainment value alive and fresh. If it wasn't for that crucial comedic timing between these three, the Horrible Bosses series would've easily been positioned much lower down the quality scale rankings. Speaking on the sequel more directly, the addition of Chris Pine and Christoph Waltz didn't really make much of a difference in terms of adding to dynamic of the movie as much as I would've liked. I find this to be pretty ironic considering that the one major selling point here was the addition of placing these two big name actors who many would've imagined would've never signed on to do a movie like this (mainly Christoph Waltz).

Cast members such as Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Aniston, and Kevin Spacey makes their triumphant return from the previous entry, but only furthers the more mediocre comedic moments presented here more than anything else. The story itself isn't too bad, but it gets a bit tangled in its own ambitions at times with the Chris Pine's Rex Harrison constantly throwing the plot around for his own gain. If you've ever seen a character presented in a film or perhaps television series that has constantly revealed their hidden agenda as being drastically different than it was before, this is basically Rex in a nutshell. Thankfully, it never gets too annoying to the point of making things less enjoyable to watch, but it is a bit much to tackle in what otherwise could've serviced better as a more simplistic but hilarious narrative foundation.  

The real problem at its core comes down to the fact that they have the writers have this amazing groundwork laid out for an iconic comedy with its cast and general idea, but the execution makes it out to be something far less impactful. With that said, Horrible Bosses 2 isn't necessarily a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it's definitely not one that I'd highly recommend to anyone looking for a good laugh. Much like how I felt about Dumb and Dumber To, I'd say to any newcomer of the series to watch the first movie to get an overall grasp at the style of comedy being utilized. If you find that you're not necessarily enjoying yourself, then there's really not much else being offered in the sequel for you.

 

Rating: 6/10