Horrible Bosses 2 is one of those rare instances where the comedy sequel is better than the original. Then again, I wasn’t exactly a fan of 2011’s Horrible Bosses (my review here). Walking into the sequel I also couldn’t tell you much about the first one. I remember the cast included returning stars Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis as Nick, Dale and Kurt and their “horrible” bosses were Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston and Colin Farrell, all of which but Farrell have returned for the sequel. I wouldn’t have been able to tell you whose boss each of them had been, though, but does that even matter? It’s a comedy, it’s meant to make us laugh and keep us entertained for 90-120 minutes and Horrible Bosses 2 does that, and what makes it better than several comedies I’ve seen as of late is the fact I’d have no problem sitting down to watch it again.
After the events in the first film that saw Nick, Dale and Kurt attempting to kill their bosses, the trio has now gone into business for themselves, creating a self lathering shower head called the “Shower Buddy”, and following an appearance on a morning television program an investor, Bert Hanson (Christoph Waltz), shows interest, ordering 100,000 units. Success! But wait, once the product is ready for delivery Bert pulls out, putting the trio’s business in jeopardy. Their solution, kidnap Bert’s son (Chris Pine), hold him for ransom and save their business.
Throughout the mayhem, Jamie Foxx returns as Motherfucker Jones, telling us a story of his one-time dream of owning a Pinkberry store, Jennifer Aniston as the sex-addicted former boss from the first film and Kevin Spacey who is now in prison and not exactly as helpful as Nick, Kurt and Dale would have hoped.
My recollection of the first film is limited at best, so for me to reiterate this one improves on the first installment is somewhat disingenuous. It’s also not exactly saying much considering we are still, nevertheless, talking about a studio comedy that should hardly be added to the pantheon of the greats. However, for whatever reason, the infantile jokes throughout Horrible Bosses 2, obvious jabs at the one-percenters and what many might consider to be tasteless humor worked for me as much as I assume it possibly could.
For what it’s worth, Bateman and Day are great in this. Sudeikis is pretty much his normal self and Pine is way over the top, vying for attention with every scene he’s in while Waltz is his typical villainous self. Aniston is more than game to get down and dirty and Foxx gets a little more involved this time around.
Director Sean Anders, who co-wrote the screenplay with John Morris, and I may be on similar immature wavelengths when it comes to comedy since I was one of the few that actually laughed at That’s My Boy, which he also directed, as well as having written films such as She’s Out of My League and Hot Tub Time Machine. Then again, he also had a hand in writing Mr. Popper’s Penguins and Dumb and Dumber To, so who knows?
Reviewing most studio comedies is a worthless exercise anyway. Horrible Bosses 2 isn’t high quality filmmaking, but I liked it. I laughed and I’m not going to ruin the punchlines for you to try and convince you. If you liked the first one I assume you’ll, at the very least, like this one as well. Go with your gut.
