Hot Tub Time Machine 2

Who really went into this expecting a masterpiece? Was the first one any better? Nah, not really. Sequels always face harsh criticism, but as far as ridiculous movies with sequels go, this one really isn't that bad. Lighten up, it's a comedy.

I got a lot of laughs from this movie. I got a lot of laughs out of all the "future" advancements we've made as a society. From "smart cars" that get the O.K. to execute people, the scary (but kinda fun looking) club scene, to the hilarious TV shows we all (probably legitimately) have to look forward to. The end credits are also worth sticking around for, these fools changing American history in photographs is just fun.

Most of the criticisms I've read here are about bad plot, stupid storyline, etc... Quit trying to be some newspaper critic. You're not going to get recruited to a "My BFE Town Today" column off Amazon. It's a silly movie, if you expected more, you should stick to the films that are worthy of judging and criticism.

If you want some laughs, with actors you don't expect anything else from, give this movie an hour and a half of your time.

When I first saw Hot Tub Time Machine back in 2010, I was pleasantly surprised. It was an entertaining buddy movie that yearned for something more, that came packaged with a soul and an ethos, and with its powerful heart, it took great strides to comfort us and lead us on a journey toward self-discovery and catharsis. Hot Tub Time Machine was as much an exercise in great dark comedy as it was a purge of all that was wrong in our lives, and it came loaded with characters that were funny yet so very human. It had all the markings of a truly great movie, and one could tell it was a labor of love, carefully crafted by an adept team.

Hot Tub Time Machine 2, on the other hand, casts itself far astray from its predecessor. In this sequel, we find our regular cast of characters (Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, and Clark Duke – John Cusack is absent this time around) living the good future they've carved out for themselves in their last outing. But they're unhappy. Ego and wealth has seized hold of them, and in Corddry's case, has turned him into a frustratingly awful monster that no one, not even his wife or son, can stand. It's during the middle of a party where Fate propels them on another adventure, as a cloaked assassin shoots Corddry in the family jewels. The team rallies together and plunges through the pool of time to find this assassin and halt a "friend's" murder.

Along the way, our protagonists meet up with Adam Scott, cast as a replacement to and a bastard child of John Cusack's character. And it's through Scott that Robinson, Duke, and Corddry discover they weren't just propelled into the future, they were cast onto an alternate time line, a recurring joke intended to spoof several popular movie franchises as of late, most notably The Terminator franchise. After a convoluted exposition and an overdone foundation for time travel, hilarity ensues.

So the audience waits. And waits. And waits. The sounds of candy wrappers and teeth mashing popcorn echo off the walls of the theater. A few people cough. Someone blows snot into tissue paper. A cell phone warbles the classic Power Rangers theme through a pair of jeans. But no one laughs. The audience is so stoic, I find myself wondering if I accidentally stumbled into a screening of American Sniper. Nope. Rob Corddry is on screen vomiting penis jokes at a mile a minute. And no one is laughing.

It's like this for most of the movie. Every twenty minutes I might hear a slight chuckle, but this theater is mostly a mausoleum. Saint Peter is before us, showing us the last endeavors of director Steve Pink and writer Josh Heald before their careers died. It's a lesson for us, a morality play on cashing in with an undeserving sequel.

"Hot Tub Time Machine 2 is lazy," Saint Peter tells us. "It's a bucket of unused jokes thrown at the screen in disarray, hoping — nay, praying — something sticks. It's a good thing John Cusack knew well enough to stay away, but the devils who made this had to go ahead and drag Adam Scott into this disaster." There's a scene midway through Hot Tub Time Machine 2 where Scott trips on psychotropic drugs. He puts this thing called an "electric ladybug" on his neck, which is little more than a bug-shaped microchip. Scott trips for hours and hours, and it's an excuse for the creative time to play with different lenses and editing tools. As I'm watching Scott make a goof of himself for the camera, his head twisting and turning into odd shapes while he makes faces, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Here he is, having the time of his life, and we're staring at him like a bunch of old people on a bench with nothing better to do — arms folded and hell bent on people-watching.

What's even sadder is Scott's whole motivation, as a character, is to find his dad. The movie teases us with John Cusack references frequently, whether it's the group of friends finding Cusack's trench coat or his boxed memories of "Cincinnati" (a point of furious indignation in the first film) or Scott, holding up Cusack's photo, bemoaning the ills of being a fatherless son. And whether or not this teasing was meant to be a joke, there's no delivery, and there's no punch line. Hot Tub Time Machine 2 dangles the carrot of a missing character, arguably the one who brings the cathartic element to the previous film, above our heads for an hour and a half and offers nothing for solace. Much like the rest of the movie, there's no sense of closure, no real turning points or soulful characters on a quest to better themselves.

Hot Tub Time Machine 2 isn't another darkly comedic exploration of the human condition. It's just junk food, and even as junk food, it doesn't taste very good. The jokes are half-assed and the script is unpolished. It's a last minute effort to capitalize on a movie that built quite a sizable fan base.

The sequel to the 2010 film Hot Tub Time Machine, 'Hot Tub Time Machine 2' has a few laughs. Its definitely not a laugh-riot, but some genuine jokes/sequences leave an impression.

'Hot Tub Time Machine 2' Synopsis: When Lou finds himself in trouble, Nick and Jacob fire up the hot tub time machine in an attempt to get back to the past. But they inadvertently land in the future with Adam Jr. Now they have to alter the future in order to save the past - which is really the present.

Let me put it up bluntly: 'Hot Tub Time Machine 2' is strictly an okay fare, that only works in limited doses. This isn't the funniest sequel you'd watch, but, the few laughs here are fun. I didn't except anything else & hence I wasn't disappointed.

Josh Heald's Screenplay definitely needed more wit, but it has some humor, nonetheless. Steve Pink's Direction is alright. Cinematography, Editing & Art Design, are superb. Graphics lack finesse.

Performance-Wise: Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry & Clark Duke reprise their parts with more madness, but one is certainly missing John Cusack. Seriously, why isn't he a part of the sequel? Adam Scott tries to fill in Cusack's shoes, but fails totally. Chevy Chase appears in a miss-a-blink appearance.

On the whole, 'Hot Tub Time Machine 2' works in bits.

There are very few comedies which have made laugh out loud in a theatre. Hot Tub Time Machine 2 is one of those comedies. I could very well be incorrect, but I should imagine that many of the people who did not enjoy this film were offended by depictions of nudity, drug use, binge drinking, sexual intercourse, and jokes or humour dealing with any or all of the foregoing. If you are not a prude, though, then you may find this outrageous comedy is worth a viewing. It is easy, mindless viewing suitable for a night when you could do with a few laughs. As I have not seen the first movie, I have no idea whether it is in any way funny or amusing. It does not strike me as being necessary in the least, though. The Hot Tub Time Machine series would not appear to build upon previous movies in such a way that you need to view the first film to appreciate what goes on in the second. Recommended viewing for those who are not holy rollers.

Opening five years after the events of the first film Lou Dorchen and Nick Webber have become very successful thanks to using other people's ideas. Then, at a party, Lou is shot in the groin and later dies. His son Jacob and Nick drag him to the time machine and they hope to travel back in time to stop the shooting... they actually end up in the future; a time when their lives are somewhat different. Evidence suggests that the killer is from this time period; the trio will have to find the killer before he goes back to commit the crime. They suspect former friend Adam Yates who was bitter after missing the trip in the first film that led to Lou and Nick's success. They find his son Adan Jnr, and he joins the search. In what follows they get into a number of sticky situations.

This sequel was rather disappointing; there were some genuinely funny moments but too many gags relied on the fact that Lou is a thoroughly unpleasant character... he is a bully who more often than not gets away with it. Most of the gags are fairly crude without the wit to be funny. The film is clearly inspired by numerous other time travel films, which are inevitably name checked by the characters. The cast do a decent enough job with the material. Overall this is far from a must see but if you like your comedies crude you might enjoy it... I'm just glad it only cost me 50p and that went to a charity!