The Movie Press
  • Movie Reviews
  • Twitter News/Updates
  • News & Notes
  • DVD
  • Box Office Results
  • Contact
  • About Us

Temporal Paradox

2/20/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Depending on where you set your expectations, you laugh as much as you need to. Hot Tub Time Machine 2 is a sequel, Hot Tub Time Machine 2 is a comedy, and beyond those two plain facts, there is no outsized ambition. What did you like about the first one? Was it the boy’s wasted romp back to the 80's? The unexpected earnestness? Comedic riffing to no end? Determine your tolerance for each and you’ll know about how much you want to see this movie.

Lou Dorchen (Rob Corddry), Nick Webber (Craig Robinson), and Jacob “Dorchen” (Clark Duke) are reaping the fruits of their ill got future. In this alternate present, the sweetness of everyone’s perfect life offered up at the end of the last installment has proved fleeting. Where this may come a terrible shock to fans of the first HTTM, getting what you want by way of manipulating time and space can ring hollow.

Lou, toggling between hair metal icon and Internet tycoon, is a singular piece of shit. Really, a pretty good approximation of what happens when the bad, well, awful guy wins. Nick has amassed Grammys and a fortune with terrible iterations of stolen pop hits he half-remembers. A certain horn-rimmed songstress makes a cameo, and it made this Buzz Bin reared 90’s child smile. Jacob is…Jacob is pretty much still Jacob. But in being shiftless and un-bangable, he does express some conscience when it comes to their phony circumstances. Adam Jr (Adam Scott) is added to the mix as Adam’s (John “I will not be in the sequel” Cusak) son. Why? Spoiler alert and whatnot.

HTTM2 is funny. It’s broad and juvenile and unceasingly referential, both to self and pop culture.  We see naked human parts of different varieties in comedic context. The cast enjoys a deep cohesion, up to the point of being downright obnoxious. Bits are offered up early and often. There are lines you might quote on the way to the parking lot. With 2014 offering fewer laughs than the slate of comedic talent might suggest, HTTM2 keeps the funny percolating. The commitment to audience laughter (or at least a cringe and a grin) is paramount. Where this may be enough—and who would begrudge you that simple joy—the film offers almost nothing else.

HTTM2 is extremely sloppy. It’s hard to define what requires less than an afterthought, but that word is the only descriptor for the story. Half-assed seems too complimentary. They indulge in some mind wrinkling time travel hijinks, otherwise there are no brains in this plot. And I mean plot in the loosest sense of the word. Reentrance to the titular hot tub time machine is manufactured, our reveal is predictable, and the half-hearted growth each character shares at the end is flimsy. Story serves as little more than framework for extended gags, but to reiterate, they’re pretty damn funny gags.

I don’t want to seem overly tepid. HTTM2 made me laugh, and as far as this genus of comedy goes, it had more chuckles per square inch than a Neighbors or 22 Jump Street. If you want to dig deeper, I miss the sincerity of the first picture. Where none of the lessons gleaned the first go round were unexpected, they resonated. Here, they feel tacked on. When the bittersweet genius of “Once in a Lifetime,” is replaced by the saccharine “Anything Could Happen,” as the soundtrack for our climactic emotional awakening, the depth is apparent.

So, yeah, what matters to you? If solid jokes delivered with an almost sketch comedy looseness is enough to wet your cinematic whistle, count yourself among HTTM2’s box office returns. If a complete story and a pinch of warmth won you over the first time, you won’t find any great satisfaction in part two. I’m of two minds about this picture. If you crave a misanthropic, lowbrow jaunt through space time, go see it in a packed house opening weekend. If you're after a good movie, well, you can look straight in my dead eyes and know HTTM2 isn't after such an accomplishment. 

—Monte Monreal

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    October 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    July 2018
    June 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008

    Categories

    All
    Austin Film Festival
    Darcie Duttweiler Reviews
    Derrick Mitcham Reviews
    Eric Harrelson Reviews
    Eric Pulsifer Reviews
    Eric Pulsifer Reviews
    Fantastic Fest
    Greg Maclennan Reviews
    Greg Wilson Reviews
    Jessica Hixson Reviews
    Mark Collins Reviews
    Monte Monreal Reviews
    Reviews
    Rob Heidrick Reviews
    Rob Heidrick Reviews
    Sxsw

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.