“Horrible Bosses 2” will hit theaters Wednesday — and, unsurprisingly, the film follows the unfortunate trend of sequels which desperately attempt to rehash the tired plot of the original. Some storylines simply need not be revisited, and this is one of them.
For those unfamiliar with “Horrible Bosses” (or who have failed to read the title of the film), “Horrible Bosses 2” chronicles a group of three ridiculous friends — Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day) — on a mission to seek revenge on (you guessed it) yet another horrible boss.
Hardly a deviation from the original, “Horrible Bosses 2” flaunts a cast almost overwhelmingly packed with big-name celebrities. However, the promise stops there. With the random and unnecessary return of characters from the original film, and the introduction of Chris Pine as an entitled brat turned murderous psychopath, it is clear the movie is overly dependent on the celebrity status of its cast.
It is no surprise that the secondary characters in “Horrible Bosses” return to reprise their roles in the sequel. Kevin Spacey’s character reappears for no evident reason other than to briefly show his famous face and berate the obviously reckless idiocy of the main characters with his familiar dry humor. Equally unnecessary are Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Aniston. Foxx’s froyo-loving conman character delivers a comical juxtaposition of personality traits, but contributes little to the actual plot, seeming to be thrown in simply to relive the glory of a character the franchise seems to pride itself on, relishing in their own cleverness. Aniston too, comes off as an attempt to revive her character as the intimidatingly sexy yet frightening dentist.
“Horrible Bosses 2” features a number of laughable anecdotes, slapstick mishaps and a few horribly feigned — albeit highly amusing — southern accents. But overall, the film is drawn out, unoriginal, and ultimately falls flat. Rewriting an old plot can only work for so long. The film goes well past its welcome and obnoxiously overdoes many of the same jokes throughout the film.
The film’s high point lies in the camaraderie evident between Nick, Dale and Kurt. The three friends’ relationship is hilariously juvenile. However, for the most part, the three seem to hover in a world of their own, devoid of responsibilities outside of their absurdly innovative business ventures. The film unrealistically abandons all outside relationships in the midst of a few particularly chaotic days. Viewers are trapped in the threesome’s nonsensical world as an unlikely band of criminals.
Unlike many sequels, however, “Horrible Bosses 2,” is not necessarily worse than the first — not that “Horribles Bosses” is a prestigious precedent. The films are nearly identical, making a sequel both unimpressive and redundant.
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