Just one year after three over-worked and under-appreciated Chicago mums gave the fingers to "having it all" and turned to alcohol and swearing in Bad Moms, they're back with Bad Moms 2, a Christmas edition.
And yes, the timing of this sequel's release seem a little premature given Christmas is still more thanseven weeks away.
After taking down their kids' school PTA in Bad Moms, this time Amy (Mila Kunis), Kiki (Kristen Bell) and Carla (Kathryn Hahn) decide to take on Christmas, refusing to buy into the pressure and expectation to deliver their families a perfect Christmas.
The theme doesn't quite resonate with our more laidback Kiwi summer approach to Christmas - we don't feel pressure to staple-gun decorations to every house surface or buy gifts for our coffee guy (do we?), but if you've ever hosted the family Christmas you'll get where these women are coming from.
Christmas, of course, means family, and it was only a matter of time before a film titled Bad Moms introduced another generation of mothers. Welcome to this irreverent and raunchy franchise another clutch of comedic heavyweights - Cheryl Hines (Kiki's mum), Christine Baranski (Amy's mum) and Susan Sarandon (Carla's mum).
What begins as a revolt against Christmas becomes a mother-daughter drama as the girls deal with their mums; who are either around too much or too little, or highly critical of their daughters.
There are some cracker jokes - often when it feels someone has had an idea on the fly - and excellent use of swear words, but the story loses momentum as it subsides to a predictable feel-good holiday movie ending.
Like the original, Bad Moms 2 is saved by an admirable and likeable cast, and an inkling that somewhere underneath all this lightweight nonsense is a very sensible idea - women should stop worrying about what's expected of them, and start thinking about what's important to them.
Cast:
Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn
Directors:
