Horrible Bosses was dark, reasonably funny and featured a stellar cast. It was a vent for frustrated employees who wanted to see the little guy take revenge and served its purpose as a comedic stab at interoffice politics. The Office Space style scenario had its quirks and picked up some fans along the way, but no one was really lobbying for a sequel.

While uncalled for, the sequel reinvigorates the concept by giving the liberated employees a chance to be their own horrible bosses. Nick, Kurt and Dale return to team up again, not to commit a crime, but to make it big with the “ShowerBuddy”, a shampoo dispensing shower nozzle that could take the world by steam. While a big investor shows interest, it’s not long before their American Dream turns into hot air and they plan an elaborate scheme to get their own back.

Horrible Bosses 2 is dark, hilarious and features a stellar cast. The original concept gets turned on its head and the trio find themselves knee-deep in a revenge plot that could rescue their flagging new venture or doom them to a life of dodging shower buddies in prison. While simplistic on the surface, the premise is pretty impressive for a sequel, reuniting essentially a modern take on The Three Stooges and setting up a number of high risk scenarios for them to bungle their way out of.

Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day reprise their roles as Nick, Kurt and Dale. Bateman is the straight guy and brains of the operation, while Sudeikis and Day function like a Dumb and Dumber pairing, whose moronic antics help generate some good dumb laughs. The three have great chemistry and help foster a spirit of spontaneity with their off-the-cuff quips.

“Bust… now BUSTED… so which of you wants to be my cell mate?”

They’re supported by the never-say-die Chris Pine and some heavyweight Hollywood talent in Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz. Each of these actors bring a sense of fun and dive headlong into their character performances, injecting some twisted humour and star quality in the process. It’s also great to see Jonathan Banks of Wiseguy fame, turning in a Columbo style detective with plodding grace.

While the all-star ensemble drive the film with infectious fun, it’s the comedy script that kicks Horrible Bosses 2 into overdrive. Sean Anders directed That’s My Boy, an Adam Sandler bomb, which will probably carry a stigma for some time. Yet, his writing and directing on Sex Drive is a much more accurate reflection of his capability. In addition, he’s carried his screenwriting experience from She’s Out of My League, Hot Tub Time Machine and We’re the Millers into Horrible Bosses 2.

The result is barrage of laugh-out-loud moments that will probably surprise some viewers, who rarely succumb to the so-called belly laugh. Anders has captured a similar risque comedy slant to We’re the Millers, delivering in-your-face comedy that ventures from socially awkward to wildly inappropriate. While the script is laden with bad language, it’s so entrenched you start to think of it as punctuation. Thankfully the laughs are consistent and loud enough to overcome many of the shortfalls in this potty-mouthed comedy caper.

Horrible Bosses 2 is an entertaining, surprising and hilarious sequel that makes an improvement on the original. The quality ensemble, the funny scenarios and krazy glue chemistry make the trip enjoyable, playing according to the genre rules but adding enough spins to keep things upbeat and fresh. The trashy language and risque humour will offend some, but if you loved the inappropriate humour of We’re the Millers, you will find much to love about Horrible Bosses 2.

The bottom line: Hilarious

Release date: 28 November, 2014
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