Horrible Bosses 2 expands on Blu-ray

Judging from the box office grosses, audiences were not looking forward to another chapter in the Horrible Bosses saga, and who could blame them. The first film racked up more than $100 million in the U.S. but after being burned by the diminishing returns of The Hangover — with a second chapter that was basically the first movie, beat by beat, in a different location — Horrible Bosses 2 grossed about half of what the first made.

But, Horrible Bosses 2 is actually a better film than the first because it’s not simply a retread. The plot expands on the story, making the three leads, Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day), their own horrible bosses as they attempt to start a business of their own. They enter into a partnership with a catalog distribution magnate (Christoph Waltz), but when the deal goes south, the guys revert to their old bad habits and attempt to kidnap the son (Chris Pine) in hopes of salvaging their business. Of course, nothing ever goes as planned and the results are pretty funny.

The addition of Waltz and Pine elevate the film, but there is also room to fit Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston and Jamie Foxx into the story organically. They never feel shoe-horned in just for the sake of bringing in familiar faces. I’ve seen the film twice now, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time around as I did the first. The new Blu-ray edition of the film also includes about seven minutes of additional footage, but it’s nothing that consequential to the plot or that changes the theatrical R rating.

The Blu-ray, released February 24, has a nice sharp, colorful image and the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is active when needed but keeps the dialog front and center without being drowned out by music and sound effects. The Blu-ray also contains a nice batch of extras.

• Endless Laughter Guaranteed! (17:28) — A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie with input from the stars and a nice collection of outtakes and flubbed lines. It shows that the cast genuinely had a great time making the movie.
• Let the Sexual Healing Begin (2:24) — A faux infomercial about sex addiction.
• Who Invented the Shower Buddy? (1:29) — Kurt or Dale?
• Nick Kurt Dale INC.: Employee Testimonials (2:13) — Ray, Lupe and Candy reflect on their bosses.
• It’s the Shower Buddy – Infomercial (1:10)
• High Speed Crash Course (2:47) — A brief behind-the-scenes look at shooting the climactic car chase scene.
• Off the Cuff: One-Liners You Didn’t See — Extended/outtake versions of several scenes in the film including Pumping Your Buddy (1:31), Julia’s Cog Collection (1:23), Don’t Drop the Soap (1:09), Spit It Out (1:28), Sex Addiction Group (1:11), Kiss and Tell (1:31), Half-Assed Brushing (1:15), Racist Dale Arbus (1:44), Stuck in the Middle (1:08), Coma Boners (1:45), A Tender Bottom (1:31), Who Gets What? (1:04), Dale’s Not Dead (1:39)

Horrible Bosses 2 may not be great art or even great comedy, but there is something about watching a bunch of people who obviously enjoy each others’ company having a great time trying to entertain us. Looking at the outtakes, they certainly had more fun making the movie than the final product shows, but it’s still worth a few good laughs here and there, and it’s miles better than The Hangover Part II. Horrible Bosses 2 would make a great party movie, and the Blu-ray, with its bounty of extras, is worth picking up.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment generously provided Horrible Bosses 2 to CliqueClack for review.