Jason Sudeikis appears in a scene from Horrible Bosses 2. Photo / AP
Jason Sudeikis appears in a scene from Horrible Bosses 2. Photo / AP
After the success of the 2011 original, and the exceptional cast returning, expectations have been high for the second instalment of this messed up, crazed, black comedy. It appears, however, once may have been enough.
Horrible Bosses ends with a clever and hilarious gag involving a car chase, a traincrossing, a nosedive off a bridge and an absence of seatbelts.
The scene builds and builds until your only choice is to laugh hysterically, unfortunately, after an hour and a half, it's been a long time coming.
Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day) are back and, after taking on their previous horrible bosses, are now working for themselves, marketing Dale's "Shower Buddy" invention.
You're unlikely to meet a more incompetent group of men, so it's not long before they're duped by slick investor Bert Hanson (Christophe Waltz) and left facing bankruptcy.
Once again they enlist the help of local criminal Dean "MF" Jones (Jamie Foxx), and come up with a madcap scheme that involves stealing from Dale's sex-addicted ex"boss (Jennifer Aniston), kidnapping Bert's brattish son, Rex (Chris Pine), and a raft of other illegal, implausible and rather silly carry-ons.
It was the chemistry between the everyday anti-heroes that made the original work, and it's still there, but this time the characters are a touch more irritating. Jason Sudeikis' cheesy one-liners are wearying, Charlie Day's cluelessness is frustrating, and Jennifer Aniston is, well, pretty much the same as last time.
Thankfully, Bateman's dry, deadpan performance evens it out. As the only vaguely normal member of the group, he's the one we relate to and who convinces us to come on the foolish journey.
There are some laughs to be had (stay for the closing credit bloopers), but the really memorable belly laughs are few and far between.
