The original 'Bad Santa' is one of my favourite comedies. We were so used to Christmas films being family friendly that when one came along that was completely the opposite of that, it was a pleasant and hilarious surprise. Now here we are 13 years later, and the problem is we know what we are in for, and therefore it doesn't work as well. Nothing is shocking anymore. It's simply expected. Comedy has actually evolved a long way in the last 13 years and I think the success of 'Bad Santa' was a large reason for that. Now ironically, I don't 'Bad Santa 2' has been able to keep up with that evolution.
There are so many things that made the first one great that are missing here. Both John Ritter and Bernie Mac have obviously passed away in the time between the two films and Lauren Graham was unable to return. These things are understandable and to be expected, however the problem lies in the fact that they haven't seemingly replaced those comedic aspects. Instead, they have simply given Billy Bob Thornton more screen time. The problem is that on his own his character doesn't work. What makes him special is his interactions with seemingly normal people, like John Ritter portrayed so well, and how shocking his personality is to them. In this movie it felt like everyone was as insane as him, and just excepted him for what he is. That's no fun.
I still really enjoyed 'Bad Santa 2' despite it being a highly flawed film. I couldn't bring myself to give it anything lower than a '7' for the simple reason that it's still so much fun. You know you have a pretty special character and concept when a film can be as flawed as this was, and at the same time be so enjoyable. Personally though, I think I'd be happy if they left this series where it is. This one was already lacking in creativity enough to imply a third one would be a serious stretch. Leave it here and you still might just be perceived as going out on top.
There are so many things that made the first one great that are missing here. Both John Ritter and Bernie Mac have obviously passed away in the time between the two films and Lauren Graham was unable to return. These things are understandable and to be expected, however the problem lies in the fact that they haven't seemingly replaced those comedic aspects. Instead, they have simply given Billy Bob Thornton more screen time. The problem is that on his own his character doesn't work. What makes him special is his interactions with seemingly normal people, like John Ritter portrayed so well, and how shocking his personality is to them. In this movie it felt like everyone was as insane as him, and just excepted him for what he is. That's no fun.
I still really enjoyed 'Bad Santa 2' despite it being a highly flawed film. I couldn't bring myself to give it anything lower than a '7' for the simple reason that it's still so much fun. You know you have a pretty special character and concept when a film can be as flawed as this was, and at the same time be so enjoyable. Personally though, I think I'd be happy if they left this series where it is. This one was already lacking in creativity enough to imply a third one would be a serious stretch. Leave it here and you still might just be perceived as going out on top.