Review of Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2015) by Jeff B — 01 Apr 2015

Quickly two-timing its way into obscurity, this horrid second trip in a certain Hot Tub takes the decent concept borne out in the first flick and immediately stops the clock on any funniness. The original wasn't a classic comedy by any stretch of the imagination but that movie at least stuck to its premise (three middle-aged neer-do-wells quantum leaping to their glory days in the 80s) and delivered enough quality jokes to qualify it as a decent laugh-getter. Rather than be witty and mine some period humor out of, say, the 90s for another go-round, its deuce just abounds in dick, boob, and gross-out jokes in a bland not-so-distant future. Yes, much in the same way that Back to the Future Part II went forward on the calendar, so too does Hot Tub Time Machine...only the latter times out on intelligence from the outset. Sequel-wise, Hot Tub Time Machine 2 proves more Horrible than Horrible Bosses 2 and leaves moviegoers more hungover than The Hangover Part 2.

In this R-rated comedy, Jacob and Nick (Clark Duke, Craig Robinson) fire up the time machine again when Lou (Corddry), who has become the "father of the Internet" via the stolen hot tub, gets shot by an unknown assailant.

Oh, it's bad--painfully unfunny bad. Without John Cusack to lead them, these meager supporting characters get elevated to marquee status and just gratuitously throw juvenile put-downs and sophomoric potty humor at the audience for 90 minutes that sadly cant be gotten back with a time machine of their own. Saddest of all is the fact that Scott, Corddry, Robinson, and Duke actually signed off on this craptastic insult of a so-called-comedy after reading the script. There is no mistaking the dialogue and story for holding even one Giga-watt of potential. Just about every bit and line falls flat. Cusack ends up to be the smartest member of this troupe for sitting out this water-logged time-bomb.

Bottom line: Hack to the Future.