We had a lot of good things to say about 2011’s Horrible Bosses, namely that it was “adult without being crass,” and “goofy without being stupid.” Changing directorial hands from Seth Gordon (The King of Kong) to Sean Anders (That’s My Boy), this unfortunate sequel happily settles for crassness and stupidity.
The inspired sparks of the original are present but sparse, with the film earning its best jokes when the three lads’ incompetence feels a little genuine. A simple scene where they plan their “kidnaping” plot – involving an on-form Chris Pine and an underused Christoph Waltz – demonstrates the comedic chemistry between Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudekis at its peak. But for the most part, the Dumbass Dial is turned all the way up from ‘ignorant’ to ‘obnoxious’, with irritatingly dumb mistakes becoming vital to the plot. When their ineptitude bleeds over from criminal acts to common sense, it’s hard to root for any of them.
Humour is extremely subjective, however, and if this collection of gags works for you, maybe the plot won’t matter. There were some in the cinema laughing at the sound of Day trying to speak urban, Sudekis mistaking “cogs in the machine” for “c*cks in the machine”, and the two of them yelling incomprehensibly back and forth.
In response to the pair’s buffoonishness, Bateman usually sighs and shake his head in disappointment. The feeling’s mutual.
‘Horrible Bosses 2’ Movie Times
