Review of Horrible Bosses 2 (2014) by David P — 30 Jul 2015

I loved the first Horrible Bosses. I have seen it countless times, mainly because it's such an easy watch and I throw it on whenever I feel like having a laugh. So needless to say I was pretty happy when they announced the sequel, and equally enthused to hear that the remaining cast would be making a comeback.

For the most part Horrible Bosses is good old fashioned fun, the boys are back together and forever bickering amongst themselves. Jason Bateman plays the straight man as he does so well, while Charlie Day delivers what he does best by playing the loveable idiot. Jason Sudeikis, in the first film came up somewhere between the two. But in this one he goes full dumbass and it kind of hurts his character. In the end it feels like most of the time it is Jason Bateman vs the other two, which destroys the strong dynamic that worked in the original.

Now the big thing that is missing from this sequel is the 'Horrible Boss'. Christoph Waltz is a fantastic villain, in other movies. He is really under-utilised here, sure he is a jerk, but not even close to what Kevin Spacey or Colin Farrell were in the first outing. Chris Pine is a bit of fun, but doesn't really fit in with our three heroes as much as he could have.

Now we do get some of our favourites back from number one, Kevin Spacey is in jail and the three lads hit him up for some business advice to hilarious effect. They also return to Motherfucker Jones (Jamie Foxx) for crime advice and Jennifer Aniston (looking as sexy as ever) is now running sex addict meets. It's great to see them all back and they are written in well enough, but I would have liked to have seen them in the film more. They are just a level above being thrown in for the sake of having them there.

If you like the comedy of the first one, you will be laughing along with this film. But there is something missing here. They have changed up the formula a bit, which isn't a bad thing, everybody seemed to whinge when the Hangover 2 repeated the happenings of the first one just in Thailand. But maybe they strayed too far from the original concept in Horrible Bosses 2, as it is lacking the heart that the original brought to the table. It's by no means a bad movie, but the first one was just so strong and the sequel hasn't lived up to it.

Go see it on a Friday night in cinemas with your mates, shut your brain off and have a good laugh.

3/5.

'Why would you shower with your buddy?! - Dale.

'Why would you shower with you Dad?!!!!' - Kurt.