HORRIBLE BOSSES 2 (review)

Review by Clay N Ferno

Hollywood returns to the well once again for another sequel that questions it’s own existence!

Thankfully, the familiar television and movie stars making up the ensemble cast do have their moments, and Horrible Bosses 2 isn’t a complete waste of time.

Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day reprise their roles as Nick, Kurt and Dale and become their own bosses unleashing a new product “The Shower Buddy” onto the world.

Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Spacey return as well, along with mastermind “Motherfucker” Jones — Jamie Foxx.

Added this time around are the father/son team of leading man Chris Pine and Basterd Chrisopher Waltz.

For schlock value, if you like to tune out here’s a movie for you, with some funny moments but the spark isn’t as bright as the original concept or the director Sean Ander’s last effort behind the camera, Adam Sandler’s That’s My Boy.

Nick, Kurt and Dale start their own company with some startup funding from Bert Hanson (Waltz).

When Hanson cancels his order for the units of “The Shower Buddy”, the company goes under and the the boys go after kidnapping Hanson’s son Rex (Pine) for the ransom money.

As a side note, the blueprints for the “The Shower Buddy” look like the Starship Enterprise, with shampoo and conditioner as the engines to the shower head hull. Well played, Easter Egg hunters!

Bateman and Day play much the same characters they do on Arrested Development and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and as you may have guessed there is not much of a stretch from We’re The Millers for Sudeikis.

This is all fine, as you can tell from the outtake credit scenes for both of the Bosses movies, the team works together for getting the laughs. Bateman’s hilarious straight man has worked for him since the Bluth days, Charlie Day is still coming into his own, and we can see from these past movies that Jason Sudeikis would be an obvious choice to take the Fletch Won prequel job.

Antagonists from the first film, Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Aniston add some good color to the movie, but Spacey is just barely there, being imprisoned from his actions in the first movie. If anyone sighed over his appearance in this film, I would have imagined it was Spacey, last seen on my screen this year as the serious Southerner Frank Underwood in House of Cards.

Aniston (Dr. Julia Harris, D.D.S.) fits better with the boys in the ensemble comedic cast. Her sex addiction has gotten worse, but at least she is seeking the help of a 12-step sex addict group. She moves her attention away from Dale (Day) and to Nick (Bateman) this time around and has some of the best lines in the picture. On top of that, she continues to look stunning in both her dentist outfits as well as her S&M getups! Truly, Aniston is having a comedic renaissance with Bosses and We’re the Millers.

Starfleet Captain Chris Pine is the frosted tipped rich son of Waltz, and — spoiler warning — ends up being the big bad when he gets in on his own kidnapping, making everything worse for Nick, Kurt and Dale. The leading man from not only Star Trek but also this year’s Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit does get funny around such great comedic actors. He’s the sort of actor that you don’t realize he is funny until you get him in the right situation. Mad Men’s Jon Hamm came from a comedic background before you saw him take over Don Draper and his short cameos are one of the highlights in Bridesmaids.

Horrible Bosses 2 is all about the star power driving a mediocre plot and another third act car chase scene. Foxx’s Jones, a sort of criminal ‘advisor’ has some moments with the guys sprinkled throughout the movie, but like Spacey was only contracted to get people to buy tickets to the thing.

In all, don’t rush to the theatre for this one, but spend a date night with RedBox or leave this on at a hotel stay if it comes your way.

The guys are funny, Aniston is funny, just don’t overthink it or think this movie compares to your memories of the first installment. They can probably stop here.