Random Movie: Horrible Bosses 2 (2014)

If my contention is correct in that the original Horrible Bosses will stand the comedic test of time much like Office Space or the original Vacation, Horrible Bosses 2 will fall to the wayside as a film that tries too hard to recreate the original with a lot more stuff that falls flat.

Our heroic trio of Nick, Kurt, and Dale are back together after the shenanigans of the last film but have set out to become their own bosses with an invention that is so convoluted that it must be a best-seller in airline malls and TV infomercials. Their ‘Shower Buddy’ quickly catches the attention of Bert and Rex Hansen, proprietors of a mega mail-order catalog who set them up for a large order with the backing of a generous bank to fund their enterprise. Unsurprisingly, Bert (the wonderfully sociopathic Christoph Waltz) pulls the order at the last minute, leaving our trio pissed off and scrambling to save their fledgling business.

Yes, Bert and Rex are the titular horrible bosses this time around. But instead of deciding to murder them, the gang decides to kidnap the son, Rex, and hold him for ransom for the money it will take to save the company. Given that the three leads couldn’t pull off a relatively simple act as murder the last time around, I’ll let you guess as to how the kidnapping plan goes. (SPOILER ALERT: It goes horribly).

The main attraction of the first film was the dynamic relationship between Jason Bateman, Jason Sudekis, and Charlie Day and that extends here as well. But while the first film had a pretty straightforward through-line from plan to execution, a lot of Horrible Bosses 2 is just the three thrown into wacky and wildly drawn-out sequences of bickering and incompetence. The fellows even admit early in the film that murder wasn’t their bag but kidnapping is totally within their comfort wheelhouse. Supposedly.

While the core cast still has a solid chemistry and the new arrivals of Chris Pine and Waltz add some much needed differentiation, Horrible Bosses 2 is a mere carbon copy of the first with the added bonus (?) of more of them dicking around and busting each others balls with no real point otherwise. Unlike before, scenes are extended painfully long with little added to the actual narrative.

Granted, some of these scenes are actually funny, especially with Bateman becoming exasperated at the other two for using his name over the radio in a covert operation but these moments do little to serve the story, only delaying the story we know is coming given the players involved. Of course, much was made of the fact that the previous horrible bosses in Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Spacey would be returning (poor Colin Farrell since he could have livened things up a bit) but they ultimately don’t add much to the story.

Unsurprisingly, things work out in the end for the gang (more or less) while the bosses get their comeuppance but the journey there is certainly not fulfilling since we could see it coming anyways and the horrible bosses seemed more of an after thought this time around, put on the backburner by how many sexual explicit or gross-out jokes can be made this time around.