Not-So-Horrible Bosses 2 Arrives on Blu-Ray

As I sit to watch Horrible Bosses 2, I remember the first one being pretty amusing. Jason Sudeikis was one of my favorite recent SNL members, Charlie Day is genius in It's Always Sunny in Philly, and who doesn't love Jason Bateman, the only (fairly) sane Bluth. It's this casting adoration that drew me to the first movie and made me return for the second. However, it IS a sequel. With trepidation, I hit play, knowing sequels are generally regurgitated humor posing as original wit.

The movie opens with the Clash singing Police on My Back, so at least we know someone involved has good musical taste. We jump right in with the lead trio having witty banter, an Austin Powers-seque visual penis gag and vaguely racist humor, that is a strong start so far and sets the tone. There will be no high-minded comedy hiding around here. If only they could shoehorn in a fart joke, we would be set.

I'll be honest, I didn't have the highest hopes for the movie. Seriously, what high-jinx can these three get into that's not going to seem like a repetitive bore? But alas, I find myself, giggling at the crude jokes and reminded that actors really do make the difference. And what a cast this movie presents! Outside of the leads, we have the return of Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Aniston, who are gleefully chewing the scenery like a laid-out buffet. Spacey's anger and irritably is hysterical, even if we only get a few minutes of it, and the sex-driven Aniston is still pretty funny the second time around. New to the cast, we see our modern-day James Tiberius Kirk, Chris Pine, climbing the figurative curtains. He's a uncontrolled ball of crazy in this movie and makes me like him even more. As his father, for what might very well be the strangest father/son duo ever combined, is Christoph Waltz. My only guess is maybe he's adopted. The audience quickly forgets that there is no family resemblance here as Christoph Waltz commands his scene with his usual understated, yet demanding performances. There are very few movies that I've seen Waltz in where he doesn't captivate. Even though this movie is far stride from Inglourious Basterds, he still dominates the screen.

I did not see part 2 in the theater, but the Blu-Ray offers an extended cut of the movie. At 116 minutes, it was definitely too long. I like my comedies to be succinct and the buffoonery was wearing mighty thin at close to two hours. Extended cuts have always confused me anyway. If the director decided to cut a scene out of the movie, aren't you releasing a sub-par version by putting it back in? Even Jamie Farr running around saying my favorite curse over and over couldn't keep my attention for two hours. Overall, stick with the original runtime.

Additionally, there are a ton of special features on here, which is awesome if you enjoy extra snippets. The cut-out One-Liners are pretty funny and the Billy Mays-like infomercial for their product will give you a good chuckle. There isn't anything amazing offered in the special features, but enough to keep you entertained for another hour or so. In this case, the extras are completely intertwined into the movie, it isn't just a few random interviews and a commentary track.

Overall, the movie isn't just a rehash of the greatest hits from the first one. Sure, you have the random homages to the first and, of course, the same concept of three laymen falling into a situation well over their collective heads, but it is kept pretty fresh with the additional new cast. Is it the finest comedy of the century? I'd go with no. Is it funny enough to keep you amused on a random weeknight when there is nothing else on the DVR, absolutely. And honestly, Day, Sudeikis, and Bateman are worth the watch alone. They take the only slightly chuckle worthy script and turn it into an abrupt laugh out loud situation.

The TL;DR: The movie is worth the watch for the killer cast alone. Give it a chance, especially if you've seen the first. More than most likely, you'll enjoy this one.