Horrible Bosses 2

The original Horrible Bosses was an enjoyable film with a great cast, but apart from perhaps 22 Jump Street, comedy sequels don't tend to have a great track record. Inevitably, Horrible Bosses 2 has come along, this time under the direction of Sean Anders. Is it a film destined to be a classic? Or is it likely to be as graceful as a plane crash? Let's check it out.

After the events of the first film, Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day) decide to form their own business, centred around their invention, the shower buddy. The company, erroneously named 'Nick-Kurt-Dale' (say it quickly for the first racist joke of the film), are approached by Rex (Chris Pine) and his father, Burt Hansen (Christoph Waltz), the owner of a large retail chain. After Burt stabs them in the back, the trio decide that their best course of action is to kidnap Rex and ask for a ransom.

After that plan typically fails, they find themselves partnered up with Rex, who also has a motive for getting the ransom from his father. They brainstorm an outlandish kidnapping plan that sets in motion the rest of the events of the film. Along the way, several characters from the original are reunited with the trio, including the now incarcerated 'horrible boss', David Harken (Kevin Spacey), the sex addict dentist, Julia (Jennifer Aniston) and Dean "Motherf*cker" Jones (Jamie Foxx), in a sequel that seems incapable of differentiating itself from many other comedies of recent years.

Similar to the first, almost all of the jokes in Horrible Bosses 2 are incredibly crude. Be it sex, masturbation, 'toilet humour', or just swearing for giggles, they generally lack taste. There's something quite charming enjoyable about that sort of humour, but the problem in this case is that the jokes seem so tired that they're really quite hit and miss. 

Though the wit can be somewhat forgiven thanks to the incredible follow-up cast. The returning trio seem to have lost none of the chemistry from the original and many of the returning cast members, including Aniston & Foxx are just as fantastic as in the first. As for Kevin Spacey, well, his two short appearances are the best scenes in the film. New to the series are Chris Pine and Jonathan Banks, both putting in great performances, the latter holding the same hilarious gravitas as he did as Mike in Breaking Bad. The only slight disappointment (mainly due to script) was Christoph Waltz, who's character doesn't really get many jokes so ends up being a bland placeholder in the overall plot.

The heist-like kidnapping scenes make for some fantastic sequences from cinematographer Julio Macat (Home Alone, Wedding Crashers) which really do elevate the entertainment value of the film. With fast paced tracking shots, car chases and some cool edits, they bring more to the series than the first, which was visually, a straight-forward comedy. 

Horrible Bosses 2 has an incredibly strong cast and is visually quite compelling. It's full of hilarious moments that are dark and crude in a similar fashion to the first, but unfortunately there are many, many other moments which are in bad-taste and are too overused to amuse.