Storyline
Fueled by cheap whiskey, greed and hatred, Willie teams up once again with his angry little sidekick, Marcus, to knock off a Chicago charity on Christmas Eve.
Writers: Johnny Rosenthal, Shauna Cross, Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates, Tony Cox, Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates, Tony Cox, Christina Hendricks, Brett Kelly, Ryan Hansen, Jenny Zigrino, Jeff Skowron, Cristina Rosato, Mike Starr, Octavia Spencer, Ranee Lee, Selah Victor, Lombardo Boyar, Dean Hagopian, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Cast: Billy Bob Thornton -
Willie Soke
Kathy Bates -
Sunny Soke
Tony Cox -
Marcus Skidmore
Christina Hendricks -
Diane Hastings
Brett Kelly -
Thurman Merman
Ryan Hansen -
Regent Hastings
Jenny Zigrino -
Gina De Luca
Jeff Skowron -
Dorfman
Cristina Rosato -
Alice
Mike Starr -
Jolly Santa
Octavia Spencer -
Opal
Ranee Lee -
Choirmaster
Selah Victor -
Breast Feeding Mom
Lombardo Boyar -
Valet Boss
Dean Hagopian -
Costume Greeter
Trivia:
Lauren Graham could not reprise her role as Sue, due to her commitment to the Gilmore Girls revival on Netflix. See more »
Quotes:
User Review
Author:
Rating: 4/10
Bad Santa 2 is a strange movie. On one hand the movie has some amazing
one-liners from Billy Bob Thornton, as he reprises his role as Willie
from the first film. On the other hand, the film is many years late and
has a slew of disappointingly shallow side characters thrown into the
mix.
The film begins with Willie being lured into going to Chicago by Tony
Cox's character Marcus. Essentially, they are going to Chicago to rip
off a charity organization. This premise on paper sounds fun, but the
execution is sloppy. When Willie gets to Chicago he reunites with his
Mother played by Kathy Bates. She calls Willie *beep* constantly
throughout the movie, as if the film is trying to force-feed the idea
that she is the reason Willie is such a bad man. The problem here is
that no one wanted a character in this movie to combat with side Willie
and there are multiple scenes in this film where I felt her and Willie
were battling for screen time with the latter being the obvious winner.
Her character felt very forced, and it honestly started to derail the
film as it endured.
Another returning character, Thurman Murman, played by Brett Kelley, is
funny at times, but once again it was forced. His character just isn't
as funny as he was in the original 2003 hit, as he has aged and seeing
this character aged does not just suddenly make it funny. The innocence
of him as a child is what made his character so funny in the first
movie, and now it just feels annoying because the audience is left
saying "grow up already." While his character would have been funny as
a little cameo, it just is not funny having him through the duration of
the film.
The reason the first Bad Santa worked so well is because the film
contrasted pure arrogance and wrath with innocence which made for some
truly awkward scenarios to play out. This film tries really hard to be
way too raunchy and over-the-top that it misses the point entirely. The
side characters in this film include the stereotypical cheating husband
boss, nerdy security henchman, and a woman who is more interested in
old men than the typical good looking guy. These characters are
extremely overacted and they cannot hold a candle to John Ritter and
Bernie Mac in the original Bad Santa. It is as if the film feels the
need to be raunchier and more vulgar to keep up with the current trend
of comedy, but Bad Santadid not need to up this factor so much, it just
needed funny scenarios involving Willie.
That being said, there are moments in this film that work really well,
and all of them involve Willie. Billy Bob Thornton is on his A-game
here and the movie would be a total trash-bag if it wasn't for his
saving performance. The scene involving him battle another "jolly"
Santa Clause was perfectly played out and had the audience laughing out
loud multiple times. It's just too bad that the movie focuses too much
on the exaggerated side characters and Willie's mother in particular.
Overall, Bad Santa 2 does not live up to the first one by any means. It
has annoying side characters, a lack of focus, and it even goes as far
as trying to implement a twist at the end that is not earned at all. I
honestly wish rather than a full-fledged sequel we got some 10 minute
shorts of "funny situations" involving Willie. It would be much funnier
than this full-fledged movie without overstaying its welcome with so
many unwanted characters. If you enjoyed the original Bad Santa, then
you will definitely laugh in some cases, but you will leave the theater
rolling your eyes nonetheless.
0