'Murder Mystery 2' finds Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston losing the fun of the original. Our review:
What is the line between parody and sincerity? Can both operate in harmony with each other or will they cancel each other out? In the first Murder Mystery, it was primarily the chemistry of Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston as the Spitzs that ensured a balance was struck. They could playfully riff on the well-worn rules of the whodunit just as they would then embrace some of them.
COLLIDER VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT The oddest thing that must be known right out of the gate about Murder Mystery 2 is that it isn’t really about a murder at all. There is a killing that kicks everything off, but that is merely a cover for a kidnapping that will become the driving force of this sequel. Caught in the middle of all this once more are the bumbling duo of Nick and Audrey who have fallen on hard times since the events of the last film.
Of course, much of this is the entire point of the experience. The bread and butter of these films is about cycling through the familiar tropes of the genre. There is even one moment where Nick and Audrey specifically call one out right before it then happens. The difference is that this time it is more of an espionage thriller than a proper whodunit.
As a result, this makes it increasingly difficult to connect with an experience that is oscillating between tones and diminishing both. When the film is poking fun at itself with aggressively straightforward and superficial jokes, it is hard to take the actual mystery all that seriously. When it then shifts into being about the case itself with the characters trying to get to the bottom of it all, the humor feels like it is mostly coasting off of the chemistry of Sandler and Aniston.
The climax to all this, taking place on the Eiffel Tower, lacks the unrestrained goofiness of the closing chase that the first one ended on. Further, where the original was better about integrating the practical with its visual effects, this one is not. In many key shots, it strains credulity that any of the people are actually standing where the film wants us to believe they are. This could be forgiven if it really let loose and the reveal of who was behind it actually caught us off guard.
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