HORRIBLE BOSSES 2: An Inferior Sequel

It seems to happen far too often: A new, original comedy premieres, to mostly good reviews, and so the studio decides to seize on the original’s success and create a sequel. And the sequel is not nearly as good as the first. It happened with The Hangover Part Two, and more recently, with Dumb and Dumber To. Now, it has happened again with Horrible Bosses 2.

To be fair, this is not Hangover Part Two bad, but it misses the mark more times than I can count.

Jokes fall flat

What distinguishes the first Horrible Bosses is not only the original story, but also the degree of comic timing. The jokes were plentiful, and they came only when necessary. There was a sense that the director knew what he was doing, and only went as far as he needed to to get a laugh.

In Horrible Bosses 2, there was a lot of the same humor, yet it was taken to excess. An example is Jennifer Aniston‘s character. In the first film, she is a sexual deviant, who is set on ruining the life of Charlie Day‘s character. There are some crude moments for sure, but it is never outrageous or disgusting. In the sequel, she is downgraded from deviant to someone who should be listed on a sex offender registry. Some of the things she says are so vile, I would hate to repeat it here.

More than that, the sequel also never quite knows where it is going. The film seems to be headed in one direction, then without warning, decides to switch gears, even though it was almost starting to go smoothly. By the end, there are several lingering questions still left up in the air. It sort of leaves room for another film in the series, but really, do we even want one at this point?

The cast tries their hardest

The chemistry between the three lead characters – played by Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, and Jason Bateman – was also one of the key highlights of the first Horrible Bosses. Day‘s character was a lovable idiot, while Sudeikis was perverted and clueless, and Bateman rounded them out as the more straight, level-headed character. The chemistry between the three is at least somewhat there in Horrible Bosses 2, and that’s mostly due to the energy that each actor brings to their role. They sincerely try their hardest. It’s just too bad that the story didn’t help them out.

For supporting roles we have Christoph Waltz and Chris Pine. The two are also talented, (Pine plays Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek series and Waltz is a two-time Oscar winner). But, even with these support actors, there is no real room for Horrible Bosses 2 to excel here, especially when all of the best lines were the ones that you can see in the trailer. There is also an elevated role for Jamie Foxx (also an Oscar winner), who had a rather enjoyable cameo in the first film. Come on, with so much talent, you would think the movie would be great!

To conclude, Horrible Bosses 2 is an inferior sequel in nearly every way – it has less laughs, less chemistry, and a much less compelling story, which doesn’t even get going until more than halfway through the film. However, there is some genuine effort given by the talented cast. This at least saves the movie from being a complete disaster.

So now I’d like to hear from you. Have you seen Horrible Bosses 2? How would you compare it to the original? Sound off in the comments below!