Review of A Bad Moms Christmas (2017) by Samantha M — 16 Jan 2018

Plot: The three underappreciated moms from the original return for a Christmas with the unexpected arrival of their respective mothers, each of whom causes problems for their daughters.

Strengths: One of the things that made the first Bad Moms work so well was the talented cast of mothers. Mila Kunis (Amy Mitchell) is a solid lead, Kristen Bell (Kiki) is always delightful and Kathryn Hahn (Carla Dunkler) is a hilarious scene stealer. Their chemistry was one again the strongest aspect of the film.

Weaknesses: Even with the leads doing their best together, so much just fell way short. Almost every joke they utter left me sitting there, completely unamused. All three women, and their mothers, have a tendency to be funny, yet this script failed them miserably. The jokes are flat out bad and unfunny. The mothers were all giant clichés. Sandy (Cheryl Hines) was overbearing, Isis (Susan Sarandon) was overly "cool" and out for money from her daughter, and Ruth (Christine Baranski) was the super judgmental mother. They're all tropes we've seen in sitcoms and such in the past. Everything was also way over the top, to the point where it was worth eye rolls and groans instead of laughs.

Overall: The worst movie I saw from 2017. The first Bad Moms as a fun surprise, but this was a major letdown. It felt like a rushed script for a cash grab led to an unfunny film with poor, generic characters.