Bad Moms 2

This review may contain spoilers!

This film is a pity because it's a dumpster fire of a film and sets out to undo the charm of what made the first film so good. I would give Bad Moms 2 a 2/10.

The sarcastic narration and leading presence of the central Amy character is one of the strengths consistent throughout the film; it's a role that people can empathise with which makes stories like these all the more interesting.

Mila Kunis, who played Amy, makes for an incredible leading protagonist; Kunis is a performer who manages to balance a very grounded figure and an equally comedic one. Christina Applegate, who played Gwendolyn, is a nice cameo in this film; Applegate's appearance is a nice reminder of the high standard the first film set and an incredible comedic talent within the film. Cade Mansfield Cooksey, who played Jaxon, is quite humorous as the dim-witted son of Hahn; Cooksey stumbles through at an intentionally bumbling rate and has great timing. Ariana Greenblatt, who played Lori, has a snarky mature attitude which really makes her performance stand out; Greenblatt displays a comedic performance that lands in a manner her older cast members don't always achieve.

However, the best performance came from Kristen Bell, who played Kiki. Bell presents quite a quirky role which is complemented by the often timid nature of her character. I enjoyed the erratic sudden outbursts which Bell seized and makes use of at very random and unpredictable moments throughout the film. While it was an awkward aspect of the plot to see play out I thought Bell did a great job in reacting to and engaging with Hines in this film. The troubled, often pervasive mother interfering with Bell's role was one that very comedically handled and fit the character Bell had crafted quite well.

This film had a really awkward plot that felt segmented into tiny pieces that never really came together at all; the title cards that were used to deliberately do this certainly didn't go a long way towards helping this. Bad Moms 2 is a film that was rushed out one year after the success of the first film and completely fails to present a feature that captures the same wit nor does this one really have any substantial message. It's disappointing to see random subplots that are clearly intended as filler content take up so much time; furthermore, the main plot doesn't exactly carry a lot of weight and feels more like the arc of a tv show episode. The new main cast for the film isn't particularly redeeming, which makes the ending rather weak and the characters as a whole harder to empathise with. The cinematography is quite simple and doesn't seem to have much thought put into it, often shots seem to have been framed up with the purpose to get what is the simplest shot possible rather than seek out a meaningful image. The editing for the film was likewise quite slow and seemed to have failed to actually leave anything upon the cutting room floor; there was obviously many shots or moments that needed to be cut but were kept to make the runtime substantial. The score for the film is non-existent and certainly not memorable; while the soundtrack is a horrific mish-mash of music that doesn't even consistently link to the Christmas theme.

Kathryn Hahn, who played Carla, seems to have been a real problem for the writers this time around as her whole arc relies upon two subplots crudely smashed together; Hahn is a rather repetitive performer who makes easy jokes and doesn't put much into crafting a convincing performance. Christine Baranski, who played Ruth, is a rather stiff role to watch and clearly doesn't want to branch out further than a stereotypical figure; Baranski is such an unlikeable character that it's not even convincing when her role is 'redeemed'. Susan Sarandon, who played Isis, is a crude figure that just really isn't very entertaining to watch; she emulates Hahn but dials things up in a manner that gets quite over the top. Cheryl Hines, who played Sandy, isn't very funny in the way she plays her character, in fact, it often turns to the point where you wonder if she's a horror character; Hines' really pushes things too far and doesn't know when to quit. Jay Hernandez, who played Jessie, is certainly charismatic but doesn't provide nor change anything when it comes to the film; Hernandez likes to keep a steady performance but this makes him quite a background figure ultimately. Justin Hartley, who played Ty Swindel, is really just in this film for the sex appeal and a poorly crafted subplot; Hartley comes off as fairly cheesy and really knows how to push things over the line in a similar manner to Hahn and Sarandon. Peter Gallagher, who played Hank, seems like an awkward afterthought written into the film; Gallagher's slack-jawed witless role isn't very convincing and is only used when it's convenient. Oona Laurence and Emjay Anthony, who played Jane and Dylan respectively, weren't very convincing as Kunis' children; this pair often delivered mature lines which felt out of place coming from these roles. Lyle Brocato, who played Kent, certainly has a more significant presence than the first film but does nothing with this time; Brocato delivers lines in a deadpan tone and seems to just be another body in the scenes he is in. Wanda Sykes, who played Dr Karl, is given far more agency to just run with things this time around which doesn't work at all; Sykes' role very clearly worked better with a more scripted and purposeful approach.