Murder Mystery 2 (D+ or 1.5/4 stars)
'Murder Mystery 2' - wow, what an ingenious title - is Jeremy Garelick's witless follow-up to 2019's witless Murder Mystery. Nick & Audrey Spitz (Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston), the former cop & hairdresser from NY, have gone into business as full-time P.I.'s. But business hasn't been all that great; mostly due to the couple's incompetence. Furthermore, working together is impacting their marriage in a not-so-hot way.
When Nick gets a call from his billionaire friend Vik (also known as 'The Maharajah', played annoyingly so by Adeel Akhtar), inviting them to his exotic private isle for his lavish Indian wedding to French shop girl Claudette (Melanie Laurent. Melanie, you have class -- what are you DOING in this movie!), the couple decide that an impromptu vacation to the tropics is just what they need.
Of course, a vacay abroad for the Spitzes is destined to lead to shocking-I-tell-ya! murder & mystery. Col. Ulenga (John Kani) & Inspector Delacroix (Dany Boon) are back from the 1st film and the new cast of suspects includes Countess Sekou (Jodie Turner-Smith), her friend Imani (Zurin Villanueva), Vik's sister Saira (Kuhoo Verma), former soccer player Francisco (Enrique Arce), & detective Miller (good 'ole Mark Strong). Shenanigans ensue.
What a bore. I know 'whodunits' are in vogue now, what with 2017's Murder on the Orient Express, 2019's Knives Out, last year's Death on the Nile and Glass Onion, as well as this franchise here ... but this spoof takes too generously from those aforementioned films and can't inject its own fun originality. This film puts Aniston & Sandler in a plethora of awkward situations where their general ineptitude, marital squabbling, & unforeseen good fortune should be bringing in big laughs, but they did not, for me. Not only is the plot happenstance not overly interesting or humorous, but the characters - that includes comedy aces like Aniston & Sandler - speak in that unnatural, affected, romantic comedy/sitcom-tinged volume and cadence that I cannot stand.
Some gags are funnier than others. Some characters are funnier than others. I just feel like it shouldn't be so difficult to write genuinely funny roles/character interactions/humorous interludes that don't rely on crassness or utter stupidity to get a rise out of the audience. James Vanderbilt is responsible for the lazy, dim-witted script and, it is confounding to me how this man who penned the intelligent, involving, twisty-turny screenplay for 2007's Zodiac could produce such drivel, here. The violence in this movie is cartoonish, as well {my eyes rolled to the back of my head when Aniston's character yelled "Oh gosh" while dangling from atop the Eiffel Tower. Really? THAT is what you say there?}.
And while I know that the gist is to 'find out who did the kidnapping/killing', that doesn't mean that the suspects have to be as dull as dishwater. Now, does this movie do well as a 'time waster'? Sure. You won't be in any pain watching it, unless you consider losing brain cells painful. It's goofy & good-looking {ooh & ah at the island locales}. But the movie has a certain frenzied energy that makes you think something essential is happening, when really, the wheels are just spinning in place. 'Murder Mystery 2' is a classic 'put on Netflix for some background noise cinema'. If that's what you're looking for, then great. But if you're looking for something remotely substantive, with big laughs & shocking twists ... look elsewhere.
When Nick gets a call from his billionaire friend Vik (also known as 'The Maharajah', played annoyingly so by Adeel Akhtar), inviting them to his exotic private isle for his lavish Indian wedding to French shop girl Claudette (Melanie Laurent. Melanie, you have class -- what are you DOING in this movie!), the couple decide that an impromptu vacation to the tropics is just what they need.
Of course, a vacay abroad for the Spitzes is destined to lead to shocking-I-tell-ya! murder & mystery. Col. Ulenga (John Kani) & Inspector Delacroix (Dany Boon) are back from the 1st film and the new cast of suspects includes Countess Sekou (Jodie Turner-Smith), her friend Imani (Zurin Villanueva), Vik's sister Saira (Kuhoo Verma), former soccer player Francisco (Enrique Arce), & detective Miller (good 'ole Mark Strong). Shenanigans ensue.
What a bore. I know 'whodunits' are in vogue now, what with 2017's Murder on the Orient Express, 2019's Knives Out, last year's Death on the Nile and Glass Onion, as well as this franchise here ... but this spoof takes too generously from those aforementioned films and can't inject its own fun originality. This film puts Aniston & Sandler in a plethora of awkward situations where their general ineptitude, marital squabbling, & unforeseen good fortune should be bringing in big laughs, but they did not, for me. Not only is the plot happenstance not overly interesting or humorous, but the characters - that includes comedy aces like Aniston & Sandler - speak in that unnatural, affected, romantic comedy/sitcom-tinged volume and cadence that I cannot stand.
Some gags are funnier than others. Some characters are funnier than others. I just feel like it shouldn't be so difficult to write genuinely funny roles/character interactions/humorous interludes that don't rely on crassness or utter stupidity to get a rise out of the audience. James Vanderbilt is responsible for the lazy, dim-witted script and, it is confounding to me how this man who penned the intelligent, involving, twisty-turny screenplay for 2007's Zodiac could produce such drivel, here. The violence in this movie is cartoonish, as well {my eyes rolled to the back of my head when Aniston's character yelled "Oh gosh" while dangling from atop the Eiffel Tower. Really? THAT is what you say there?}.
And while I know that the gist is to 'find out who did the kidnapping/killing', that doesn't mean that the suspects have to be as dull as dishwater. Now, does this movie do well as a 'time waster'? Sure. You won't be in any pain watching it, unless you consider losing brain cells painful. It's goofy & good-looking {ooh & ah at the island locales}. But the movie has a certain frenzied energy that makes you think something essential is happening, when really, the wheels are just spinning in place. 'Murder Mystery 2' is a classic 'put on Netflix for some background noise cinema'. If that's what you're looking for, then great. But if you're looking for something remotely substantive, with big laughs & shocking twists ... look elsewhere.