Horrible Bosses 2

When the original Horrible Bosses came out three years ago, I wrote that I was “consistently entertained, and — more importantly — never bored,” and that in “a few months […] I’ll forget that I ever watched [it].” This is fitting for a couple of reasons, because I spent most of Horrible Bosses 2 trying to remember what I liked about its predecessor (I’d forgotten that Colin Farrell was even in the damn thing) and because those sentiments are exactly how I feel about this newest installment. Most of what I wrote about the first film applies to its sequel, that it’s propped up by a strong cast, and while it’s never hilarious by any means, there are a few clever bits and enough chemistry to keep things going. I was never bored with it, which may be faint praise but is praise nonetheless.

It’s also totally disposable, which isn’t surprising. Rarely are the sequels of comedies the most ambitious cinematic forays; usually, they’re little more than rehashes of gags that worked in their original surroundings. Horrible Bosses 2, in many ways, is much the same. We have all the same characters (sans Farrell, who was offed in the first flick), some making mere cameos, like Kevin Spacey’s jailed maniacal Dave, while others — such as Jamie Foxx’s character (whose name is unfortunately too much for print) — have expanded roles.

And of course, returning are our misfit protagonists, Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day), who’ve taken the lessons they learned and decided to become their own bosses. Their master plan is an invention called the Shower Buddy that squirts shampoo out of a showerhead or something (it’s not really explained and mostly used for cheap laughs to open the movie). With little understanding of business law, they’re soon taken advantage of by a billionaire (an underused Christoph Waltz) and his son Rex (Chris Pine), find themselves out half a million dollars and are on the verge of losing everything to the bank. The only plan they can think of is an undercooked scheme to kidnap Rex for ransom — an idea that spirals out of control in various ways from there.

Maybe it’s because I’ve forgotten most of the first movie, but none of this feels too stale, despite all the in-jokes. None of it’s all that amazing, either, which is even more confounding. There are a handful of inspired moments — namely when the movie takes the time to parody the crime and action genres, but this is only a small aspect of the film. The rest — much like the first film — is just good enough. It’s not really a movie I can recommend. I certainly wouldn’t go out of my way to see it, but you could certainly do worse, and that’s about as excited as I can get about Horrible Bosses 2. Rated R for strong crude sexual content and language throughout.