Horrible Bosses 2: Film Review

Horrible Bosses 2: Film Review

Cast: Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx, Chris Pine, Christoph Waltz, Kevin Spacey
Director: Sean Anders

Horrible Bosses 2 posits the theory that in order to not deal with Horrible Bosses, it's better if you have to branch out on your own.

In theory, self-starters are a great economic boon; but in cinematic practice, this second outing for the inept (and borderline annoying) gang is nothing short of once over lightly again, with the jokes stretched as repetitiously thin as the first time around.

Nick, Kurt and Dale (Bateman, Sudeikis and Day respectively) are sick of working for the man, so decide to become the man by starting up their own ShowerBuddy company. However, when they get ripped off by Christoph Waltz's CEO Bert Hanson and his son Rex (a brilliantly cast Chris Pine who steals scenes left, right and centre), they're suddenly facing a massive crisis.

So, brainstorming they decide the only way out of the predicament is to kidnap Hanson's son...

As with Horrible Bosses, Horrible Bosses 2 sets the bar low early on with a series of visual gross out gags that involve showers, shadows, Day and Sudeikis and doesn't really aim much higher throughout.

While the bond between the trio is still evident and the comic charisma is there among these starting -to-grate Three Stooges, the material simply isn't enough to propel this flick through. And things get worse when the characters from the previous film are rolled out to up the ante on what they did before; so Jennifer Aniston's sex-addicted dentist gets to be filthier, Kevin Spacey's jailed boss gets to rant and seethe through the other side of the prison glass and Jamie Foxx's criminal gets extended screen time, but none of them really add to the mix.

Waltz is wasted and Pine is the only one who actually helps propel the all-too familiar daddy- doesn't-love-me-how-can-I-get-his-attention storyline along with a unchained performance that actually brings some fire to the screen.

To be fair, a couple of moments hit their target including an amusing car chase that plays with the perceptions of what it should be and takes things to their logically absurd conclusion. End-credits come with the usual yuks and fluffs, but given the material wasn't that strong in the first place, even they feel tired.

Mediocre and just not funny enough, Horrible Bosses 2 is a massive disappointment to end 2014 on.

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