Horrible Bosses 2 Review

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

None of us like our bosses, but in this sequel to Seth Green’s 2011 Horrible Bosses, Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day), have all been promoted from attempting to murder their bosses, to kidnapping their business partners. All results in a couple of laughs, and a handful of chuckles.

Horrible Bosses 2 follows Nick, Kurt and Dale, who now want to work for themselves and make money out of their slightly awful idea, the ‘Shower Buddy’ – a soap-dispensing shower head. After a gaffs filled daytime TV appearance, our trio are approached by Burt Hanson (Christoph Waltz) and his son Rex (Chris Pine), who put in a huge order for their new product. All goes awry when our hapless trio discover that Burt never intended to complete the order. They hatch the ludicrous plan of kidnapping Burt’s son Rex and holding him for ransom.

Horrible Bosses 2 doesn’t suffer from what a lot of other comedy sequels suffer from; just do the same movie, but in another location. Director/scriptwriter Sean Anders has moved the story along, changing the dynamics of the story slightly, all the while keeping the same humour from the first film.

Bateman, Sudeikis and Day are funny together, but they never really feel like real people. It seems as if each actor is a caricature of a character they have played before; Bateman is the straight guy out of Arrested Development, Sudeikis is the same guy he plays in all of his films, and Day is the bumbling buffoon with an irritating high-pitched voiced out of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Each actor has done far superior work before, yet this certainly feels like a step down.

Horrible Bosses 2 also sees the return of original horrible bosses Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Spacey. More of each would have been much appreciated, especially Spacey, he was the best thing in the first film. Both actors look like they are just there for the pay check, but they do deliver some laughs, especially one scene involving Aniston’s sex crazed dentist and a sex addiction support group.

On a more positive note, Sean Anders’s sequel has much more of Jamie Foxx’s Motherfucker Jones, including one of the most amusing police chases seen since The Blues Brothers. Chris Pine also shows us a new side to his acting talents, offering up a gloriously insane performance as Burt Hanson’s spoilt, mad and attention craving son Rex.

Horrible Bosses 2 easily passes the 6 laughs test and offers 1 hour and 45 minutes of escapism, which is a good thing.

There will surely be a third film, yet this sequel is a step up from The Hangover trilogy. Who knows, Hollywood might one day make the Citizen Kane of modern comedy.