Terrible Employers (Horrible Bosses 2)
Cristoph Waltz plays an excellent villain. Not a “bad guy”—a villain. Measured, methodical, mean, and he won before you started fighting. He dominates the motivation and concern of the hero(s). He is certain to prevail right up until the very end when, in true Hollywood fashion, the villain gets his due.
I might make that observation of any film I’ve seen him in. In Horrible Bosses 2, it holds true, but he is also very funny.
As a sequel, Horrible Bosses 2 is a fun return to the characters of the first. The title is appropriate, though reversed in meaning. Instead of working for people who are horrible humans, Nick, Kurt, and Dale are now bosses who are horrible at their job. On a scale of funny, the first is probably better, but I found myself delighted by the silliness, slapstick, and word gags of another bumbling attempt at committing a Class A Felony.
For the cast, effortless performances were delivered by the main trio (Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day). Their antics flow smoothly and humorously. Jennifer Aniston is notable mostly because it’s just funny to hear her talk about her mental collection of penises. The real standouts are Chris Pine and Jamie Foxx, though Pine should have been eating an apple through most of the film. Jamie Foxx’s character is given the best shock-funny lines in the film, taking advantage of them to make the audience feel awkward about their own assumptions. I mean, really, why wouldn’t “Mother F—er Jones” have a carpeted triple-decker cat tower in the back of his El Camino?
If you are a fan of the original, you will probably enjoy this one. If you are looking for the funniest thing since X, you’ll probably enjoy it, if X wasn’t that long ago or that funny.