Bad Santa 2: A Vulgar and Lifeless Sequel
When it came out in 2003, “Bad Santa” was surprisingly well received from many of the nation’s top critics, getting a score of 80 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Sadly, I personally only watched the first half of the first installment, despite the fact that it was outrageously funny. From what I know, what made the first movie so revolutionary was, the fact that it was an anti-Christmas movie that has never been seen before in theaters. “Bad Santa 2,” was the opposite of amusing.
The Review
Thirteen years later, we get a sequel that probably should have never happened. Despite having the same talented cast of Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, and Brett Kelly, this time around, the execution of “Bad Santa 2” was way off. Having a different writer and director was basically the entire problem. It was kind of questionable having a director like Mark Waters at the helm because, he never really had an opportunity prior to this movie to engage in a comedy of this nature. His previous projects included, “Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” “Freaky Friday,” and “Mean Girls.”
In “Bad Santa 2,” Thornton, Cox, and Kelly are back at it again with the addition of Kathy Bates. The story follows Willie, and Marcus, who continue with their ridiculous antics much like the first movie, but the difference was, this movie was much less funnier.
The jokes were just too repetitive, and really not clever at all. The joke of Marcus’s height in the movie was both childish, and overplayed, which then eventually got stale. What made this revelation even worse was, the fact that this film did have some promise.
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Thronton, who usually does well with his whole scumbag persona, felt lifeless throughout the entire hour and twenty minute running time. He seemed to not really care at all about this performance, maybe because he thought that a sequel was unnecessary much like what the audience’s state of mind was. The running time especially felt way too long compared to previous lengthier movies that I saw over the Thanksgiving break.
Brett Kelly was really the only character that I cared about because, he actually seemed to care about being funny. But again, they try to create genuine scenes between him, and Willie that didn’t matter considering the rest of the movie was complete trash.
Honestly, it’s hard to delve deeper into the story line, and break down every little plot point, because none of it was good. It is a movie that I would not recommend to anybody, especially people who appreciate the art of filmmaking. “Bad Santa 2” was vulgar, repetitive, and stale mess that should have never been created.
