Maybe there should be a maximum time that you're able to wait between sequels, or maybe there should be an unwritten rule that the original writer or director should come back...
Any of those factors might have helped the sequel BAD SANTA 2, which lazily limps to the finish line as a poor imitation of the original.
The good news is that Billy Bob Thornton is back 13 years later as Willie Soke. He's game to make Willy even more pathetic and desperate than in the original film. When your opening scenes focus on failed suicide attempts, you're not leaving yourself much room to sink lower.
Our fat little boy Thurman Merman is back, still played by Brett Kelly, but showing little gains in brain power since his childhood.
Kathy Bates is pretty damn funny as Willie's mom, whose rounded Willie and his elf sidekick Marcus (Tony Cox) up for a major Christmas robbery of a huge charity whose owners match Willie and team for depravity.
Some scenes are very funny, but its so lazy that it tries to create scenes from the original again with new characters, and they dont measure up.
It should be against the law to waste Octavia Spencer (The Help, Hidden Figures) in a small role this underwritten and unfunny.
Billy Bob is so good, there are moments where you actually feel emotion for his character, which is hard to imagine.
Unfortunately the more Willie tries to find a better path, the less the film resembles the dark and twisted first film.
Crude, mean and nasty just like the original, the humor's not for everyone. For me, its just disappointing. Audiences must have agreed, as it sunk quickly at the theatres.
Suffice to say when Christmas rolls around every year and we need a break from the family holiday flicks, we will always find time for the original.
BAD SANTA 2? It's one and done for me and I'll give it a D.
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