Starring
Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates, Tony Cox, Christina Hendricks, Brett
Kelly, Jenny Zigrino, Ryan Hansen, Octavia Spencer. Directed by Mark
Waters. (2016, 92/95 min).
No,
we did not need a Bad Santa sequel. The original film's
premise is something that is really effective only once, when sheer
audacity, mean-spiritedness and loads of politically incorrect
vulgarity catches the audience off guard. But along the
abundance of sex, expletives and criminally antisocial behavior, Bad
Santa had enough genuine humor and heart to render it a minor
holiday classic. Any follow-up would be an exercise in redundancy.
Bad
Santa 2 is not only redundant; it comes 13 years later, which
should be plenty of time to come up with something new to do with its
characters. Instead, it's business as usual, with Kathy Bates (as
Willie's mother) thrown in to out-swear, out-drink, out-shit and
out-gross the rest of the cast. The plot this time is a
Christmastime robbery of a charity organization, which of course
requires Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) to throw the Santa suit back on.
 |
| Billy Bob meets Steve Bannon. |
The
cast is certainly game, which includes Tony Cox and Brett Kelly (now
older, larger and just as developmentally challenged) revisiting to
their most famous roles. Christina Hendricks is sort-of wasted as
Willie's new sparring/sex partner, while Bates at-least appears to be
having an uninhibited good time
Unfortunately,
what was hilariously shocking over a decade ago isn't as fresh and
funny when we know what to expect, though more-of-the-same may
be exactly what some viewers want. Like the original, Bad Santa 2
revels in sex, bad taste, f-bomb-loaded dialogue and overall decadence. Admittedly, sometimes it's amusing. More often, however, other than attempts to up the ante in the raunch department, this is like
hearing your drunken uncle tell the same filthy joke for the umpteenth time.
EXTRA
KIBBLES:
THEATRICAL & UNRATED VERSION
FEATURETTES:
"Thurman Then & Now"; "Just Your Average Red Band
Featurette" (title tells all)
"JINGLE
BALLS" - A musical montage of many of the film's expletives
ALTERNATE
OPENING & ENDING
DELETED
SCENES
TRAILERS
KITTY CONSENSUS:
MEH...STICK WITH THE ORIGINAL
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