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The first HORRIBLE BOSSES movie wasn’t a critical marvel or really anything new in the comedy world. It was a simple movie about three likable guys who wanted to get back at some horrible bosses. Apparently this topic resonated with the American people and it made $200 million at the box office. Now the sequel, HORRIBLE BOSSES 2, is ready to recreate the magic of the Bateman-Sudeikis-Day team. While many of the scenes may be predictable or fall short of their potential, the three main stars accompanied by a strong supporting cast (Chris Pine, Jennifer Aniston, Cristoph Waltz, Jamie Foxx) all provide enough charm to make this move enjoyable.
The movie starts off with the three lead characters pitching a product called The Shower Buddy (a sort of car wash in the shower) to business tycoon Bert Hanson (Christoph Waltz) and son Rex (Chris Pine). After manufacturing 100,000 units of the one note prop joke, Christoph Waltz plays the trio into bankruptcy in order to buy the product for a cheaper price. But our heroes are not ones to go down without a fight, and put together a plan to kidnap Rex in order to ransom their livelihoods back. Unfortunately for them, Rex turns out to be much more of a wild card than expected, and the endless comedic twists and turns come. With help from Jamie Foxx as “MF” Jones and occasional interference from returning sex addict Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston), they must try to successfully execute a kidnapping without getting arrested.
Jason Bateman plays the same “least moronic of the morons” that he always does, and Charlie Day is still stuck as the human golden retriever he regularly plays. Sudeikis’ character is the only one that may not be type-cast, but that may only be because he has no real traits except being a womanizer and in-between for Bateman and Day. Still, these guys are very funny comedians and are typecast because they are so good at their respective roles. There are plenty of fantastic jokes throughout the movie that play on this dynamic, my favorite being the awkward pause as Day, Sudeikis, Bateman, and Foxx wait for a train to pass by so that the cops can continue chasing them.
The film falls flat in many of its scenes, with many jokes being predictable and unnecessarily low brow. These jokes seem vaguely familiar, still funny but feeling recycled. Other parts of the film have so much potential from the character dynamics, but can’t seem to be as funny as they could be. But the best parts of the film are when everything clicks and those moments are gust-bustlingly hilarious. Overall the film is very palatable, nothing sets it apart but it is an enjoyable watch and will leave you with a few very good laughs.
