Horrible Bosses has got to be on my list of top ten comedies of all time so when I heard there was a sequel on the way I was excited and sceptical in equal measure.
Everyone knows that sequels rarely measure up to their originals and more often than not viewers are left disappointed.
Well, I shouldn’t have been worried.
Although Horrible Bosses 2 wasn’t as good as the first one, it was nearly there, with some proper laugh out loud moments and star turns from returning cast members.
For those of you who haven’t seen Horrible Bosses, the story focuses on friends Nick (Jason Bateman – Arrested Development), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis – We’re The Millers) and Dale (Charlie Day – Pacific Rim), who all hate their bosses and come up with a crazy plot to kill them.
Horrible Bosses 2 picks up with the trio attempting to start their own business thanks to Dale’s invention, The Shower Buddy, in the hope that they never have to work for awful bosses again.
When slick investor Bert Hanson (Christoph Waltz – Django Unchained) screws them over and steals their idea, they decide to kidnap his son Rex (Chris Pine – Star Trek) and hold him for ransom – however things don’t go exactly to plan.
Jason Bateman is excellent as the straight-laced Nick, spending most of the film trying to keep his two mates from doing anything too stupid, while the chemistry between Sudeikis and Day is brilliant.
Stand out moments for me were when the trio break into Rex’s house to execute the kidnap plan and later when they are in a hotel room watching for Hanson to arrive at the “money drop zone”.
Reprising their roles from the original are Jennifer Aniston as Dale’s former boss and sex addict dentist Julia, Kevin Spacey as Nick’s psycho ex-boss Harken and Jamie Foxx as (let’s be honest, pretty rubbish) gangster Dean ‘MF’ Jones.
New blood comes in the form of Waltz, who in my opinion was a little underused, and Pine, who kept the audience guessing with his portrayal of the unhinged Rex.
If sexual references interspersed with strong language really isn’t your thing, then this black comedy should be avoided at all costs, but I’ve got a strong feeling it’s going to become a regular watch in our house.
Rating: 3.5/5 (watched at West End Cinema, Boston)
