Lights Camera Jackson HTTM2 Review
I did not see the original "Hot Tub Time Machine", which was released in 2010, but a lot people did and many consider it a modern cult classic comedy.
(This film has been on DVD for four and a half years, not having seen it could have been easily rectified, and “a lot people did” should read “a lot of people did”. This opening paragraph should just give information.)
Now, a whopping five years later, we get the just plainly ridiculous "Hot Tub Time Machine 2", (the use of “whopping”as hyperbole is a cliché, and drop “just plainly”) which joins the list of "Taken 3" and (while it could turn out to be a good film) "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" as 2015 sequels that had no business being made. (Why pass judgement on TSBEMH before it is out, and the “no business being made” is obvious, Taken 2 was a gigantic hit, and TBEMH was a hit with the demographic portrayed in the film. This attack on Taken 3 and TSBEMH seems tacked on, unnecessary sequels are a legitimate problem but the choice of a film that hasn't been released it odd.)
The first paragraph should have been; Hot Tub Time Machine, a comedy released in 2010, was a minor hit and considered by some to be a modern cult classic. Now five years later we get the ridiculous Hot Tub Time Machine 2, yet another unnecessary comedy sequel.
The star of the original, John Cusack, is out (though there are a few images of him) and "Parks and Recreation"'s Adam Scott is in as Cusack's character's son, Adam. The trio who took that fateful dip with Cusack in the first film, Lou, Nick and Jacob (played by Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson and Clark Duke) get back into the tub, to try to go back in time to prevent Lou from being murdered, but instead are sent to the future. (OK, this is just the plot, no opinions being expressed, though the parenthetical aside is odd. This could have been compressed.)
The second paragraph should read; With John Cusack out Rob Corddry (Lou), Craig Robinson (Nick) and Clark Duke (Jacob) return alongside Adam Scott, playing the son of Cusack's character (Adam), and get back in the tub in an attempt to foil Lou's murder but instead end up being sent to the future.
With a wild premise like this there are really no rules, (is time travel a “wild premise”? Are there really “no rules”? It seems that most time travel film go to the trouble of establishing rules.) so the possibilities for gags and crazy storylines are limitless.
Unfortunately, "Hot Tub Time Machine 2" is simply a hot mess. (finally in the fourth paragraph we get an opinion) The only genuine laughs come from occasional exchanges between the characters insulting each other, along with some basic, but still funny, movie and TV show references. (I guess the “hot mess” statement isn't going to be expanded on, and there is going to be no example of what references were funny.) The "Nick Webber Strut", performed by Robinson, is the film's only solid running joke.
This paragraph needs to be expanded to explain exactly why it is a "hot mess" and examples of the references used.
The time travel aspects of the story are overly complicated - maybe on purpose - but it doesn't work. (I don't understand this sentence, the premise of the film hangs on time travel, and even Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me made fun of how hard time travel could be. The title of the film explains the premise, it's not complicated, though maybe watching the first film may have helped.) And a heavy reliance on over-the-top sexual humor drags the viewing experience into the gutter. With only a Dixie cup's worth of comedy in this entire hot tub, director Steve Pink chooses to go the all-too predictable route, filling the remainder of the movie with scenes of sex, drugs and alcohol, which continuously take the storyline down the drain. (So, are we in the gutter or down the drain? And the phrase “down the drain” is not synonymous with something being crude but rather unsuccessful. Finishing two sentences in a row with metaphors that mean the film is crude is redundant, pick one and rewrite both sentences to make the point.) No doubt many people, upon leaving the theater, will be wishing they could step into a time machine of their own to go back a few hours and rethink their decision to see "HTTM2". It's an SNL skit on steroids: funny/wacky premise, a few clever moments, but goes way too far and for way too long. (The time travel gag is a cliché, the “it's a blank on a drug” is also a cliché, and the use of “way too” twice in a row is clumsy.)
This final paragraph needs to be pruned of clichés. The general gist seems to be that the film is too crude, so say that it is too crude. Finishing with "many people, upon leaving the theater" makes the review about other people not about the reviewer. The summary should be about the reviewers thoughts not about other people.