Review of Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2015) by James D — 22 May 2015

The sequel from to the comedy hit "Hot Tub Time Machine" does everything in its magical world to live up to the original but falls a few years short. That doesn't mean it's terrible, it's far from terrible, but it was pretty dry, even for a hot tub.

The acting isn't anything worth boasting over, and one should know that going into this. Rob Corddry leads the cast as the A-Hole A-Lister "Lou," who hasn't changed a bit since we left off. He's good at what he does, I'll give him that. He will make you hate him, and at the same time laugh hysterically at him for some of the stuff that comes out of his mouth. Then the supporting cast of Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, and Adam Scott who is replacing John Cusack's character, but plays Cusack's son "Adam Jr." The supporting cast is the same, funny, weird, good at what they're doing, just nothing extraordinary.

The plot, simple, too simple almost, but with a dash of "Terminator" according to Robinson's character, just like the original film. Except, this time, instead of going back in time, they jump forward 10 years to the future. It's pretty straight forward, mildly to medium predictability, and not as funny as 1. But, it did make me laugh on and off again throughout and kept me interested. The best parts are when they do the "You Look Like" comparisons, there's some pretty heavy hitters there.

So, overall I'd say it was decent, it may get funnier the more you watch it, because I'm sure you pick up jokes missed the first time around. But, don't expect a knock out, or anything close to the original. If you go in expecting nothing, you'll probably get something out of it, and vice versa. P.S. I definitely want to go back in time and create America with these guys, I've always wanted to take a selfie with Abe Lincoln. 3/5 JD.