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    Bad Santa 2

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

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    I’m not even sure why they made a sequel to “Bad Santa”. That film’s conclusion was very definitive. In fact, a criticism I have for the 2003 film is that it should’ve made its ending even more absolute and killed Billy Bob Thornton’s character. But he lived and he’s back 13 years later… not having learned a single thing in "Bad Santa 2".

    After hitting rock bottom, Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) decides to commit suicide. His attempt is interrupted by an offer from Marcus (Tony Cox), who convinces him to pull off one more job. The duo pair up with Willie’s foul-mouthed mother Sunny (Kathy Bates) to steal millions from a charity.

    I didn’t think they could find a good reason to team up Willie and Marcus again, but they did. If you’re planning on killing yourself in a truly pathetic fashion like he does here, why wouldn’t you say yes to the guy who previously tried to murder you? That’s good stuff. It gave me hope like a star shining over Bethlehem. I also thought Jenny Zigrino, in a secondary role, was quite funny. Aside from these, there are few innovations in this picture. Willie has once again reverted to his sex-obsessed, boozing, irresponsible self. Marcus is still right there to berate him as he turns heads. Brett Kelly returns as Thurman Merman, who still appears to have some kind of mental deficiency. This picture feels like a television series that’s run out of ideas and has added a baby to the mix to spice things up. Trouble is, the new character added, Sunny, is basically a female variant on Billy Bob Thornton’s character. She’s foul-mouthed, she’s rude, she’s crass, she drinks, she’s sex-obsessed; you wonder how it is she hasn’t gotten fired yet. That would be interesting in any other picture, but here it’s been done. It’s not even shocking.

    I feel as though this picture banks on you only vaguely remembering the original film or at the very least the audience being slightly inebriated to miss some of the glaring omissions or plot points that never get followed up on. We learned in the first film that Thurman’s father was scheduled to be released from jail. Where has he gone? What happened to Lauren Graham’s character? I know we’re told that she got fed up with Willie and dumped him… but wasn’t she Thurman’s custodian now? Don’t tell me she dropped him once he turned 18. Anyone with a brain could see that the poor boy can’t take care of himself. I can’t say for sure, but I think SOMEONE read the script and said NO! Which is why she’s been replaced by Christina Hendricks, basically filling in the same role. Sometimes, jokes are thrown in, but they don’t make sense. At one point, Marcus says that he’s been posting pictures of Willie and himself from their “good days” up on Instagram. This means 1 of 3 things: A) Marcus had the photo-sharing service 12+ years before everyone else in the world. B) he saved photos for over a decade in the off-chance that one day, he’d want to share them, and then did or C) that it’s a cheap joke riding on a popular app thrown at us in the hopes that we wouldn’t think while watching the film.

    The biggest problem with "Bad Santa 2" is that it takes no chances. Willie and Marcus are scheduled to do a big job while an outsider muscles in on the action. Willie’s drunken behavior threatens the robbery, which causes the criminals to argue and bicker. He begins romancing a woman, which makes for lewd sex humor aplenty. He struggles internally as the dimwitted boy he’s tried to push away keeps coming back for more. Yes, his mother is thrown in, but what is she really, except Willie 2.0; bad Mrs. Clause?

    "Bad Santa" was a one-off. Its characters weren’t very deep, but that kind of Christmas nightmare hadn’t been done yet. Before the one big joke that formed the picture’s skeleton could fall apart or run out of steam, the credits were rolling. And now here we are with the Christmas present nobody asked for. There are some funny moments throughout, but this feels like a picture that was rushed into production a year after the original, not one that was carefully concocted 13 years after the fact! There’s just nothing new here and without the tiny moments of heart that made the first wrap up so nicely, there are a few, but not many things to be enjoyed about "Bad Santa 2". (Theatrical version on the big screen, December 5, 2016)

    3
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    adamwatchesmovies@  5.12.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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