Not a total piece of deux deux, but still not funny.
The best thing I could say about the new Adam Sandler sequel “Murder Mystery 2” is that it’s not as offensively awful as “Jack & Jill” or “Grown Ups 2,” but it’s more into the glamour and style than it is on laughs. Sandler has been getting better lately with genres outside the reach of his targeted audience. “Uncut Gems” was a great movie that got snubbed at the Oscars, while “Hustle” was entertaining in a different scope for his Happy Madison studio. He doesn’t always have to cater to the fans who want the stupid behaviors, and even people aren’t as dumb as Hollywood depicts them as.
“Murder Mystery 2” can be stylish when it wants to, and Sandler and Jennifer Aniston both have chemistry, but they aren’t given the right material to bring on the laughs. Maybe they should see where they would both go if they were in a drama. Something with a complex character study. It’s feasible for them to, at least, try.
The two leads reprise their 2019 roles as New York couple-Nick and Audrey Spitz-who are both better off bantering than they are at starting their own detective agency. They both solved a murder mystery before, but lately, their luck ran out, until they reunite with their good friend Vik the Maharajah (Adeel Akhtar) for an elaborate wedding, where he gets kidnapped.
With some help from a top agent (Mark Strong), they both now have to go to Paris to make the money transfer, which ends up taking a different direction. They’re framed again, but this time for the kidnapping. At least the detective (Dany Boon) is willing to help them.
John Kani is back as the one-eyed-one-armed colonel, who is a suspect again, along with Melanie Laurent as Vik’s fiancée, Jodie Turner-Smith as his former lover, and Kuhoo Verma as his sister. Anyone of them could a suspect. Or maybe it’s a law enforcer. It could be anyone. It’s a cliche. Even the ending feels recycled.
The better whodunit sequel-also on Netflix-is “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” which knows how to change the rules and allow the main detective and his latest client to figure out the puzzles. “Murder Mystery 2” looks like a fun movie, especially when Sandler and Aniston try to adapt to the situations in Paris. Even in Sandler bombs (some of them better guilty pleasures than others), there can be a tickle every now and then, but the humor here feels too broad and typical for us to laugh at. The point of an action comedy is for us to laugh and be at the edge of our seats at the same time, but there’s no balance here.
I’m glad “Murder Mystery 2” is no train wreck of an Adam Sandler sequel, but it’s not much of a sequel for my tastes.
Now Streaming on Netflix
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