Hot Tub Time Machine 2 Review: Something Silly Is In That Water
by Joel D Amos at . Updated at . CommentsIn 2010 a comedy arrived that gave us Hot Tub Time Machine quotes that have been repeated ad nauseam since, but did we ever think it would get a sequel? It made $50 million domestically, but when it landed on home video, a new cult classic was born. And frankly, cult classics get sequels nowadays.
But what works with Hot Tub Time Machine 2 is that the formula that director Steve Pink and screenwriter Josh Heald introduced to us in the first film keeps on hitting those laugh-out-loud notes and they work for us.
Back to the Future inspired the first film, what with its “thing” that is used as a vehicle of time travel and how the past can change the future and how that is not always a bad thing. And where Back to the Future Part II headed into the future, so too does Hot Tub Time Machine 2, but it does so in a much more hilarious and raunchy way.
John Cusack from the first film is gone, but his presence is still saluted. In this futuristic film, we meet his child, Adam Jr. (Adam Scott). Scott’s comic sensibilities are quite Cusack-ish, so it works (for now, we would love Cusack to come back with Scott if there’s a third Hot Tub Time Machine) with the three stars back from the first film -- Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry and Clark Duke.
As teased in the Hot Tub Time Machine 2 trailer, something horrible happens to Corddry’s Lou and they head back into the hot tub. They learn a valuable lesson from Chevy Chase’s hot tub mechanic: “The hot tub doesn’t take you where you want to go, it takes you to where you need to go.”
It turns out that that horrible thing that happens to Lou, it actually emanated from something that happened in the future. Color us impressed with the unique take on the time travel genre of the movies. That said… there are plot holes all over this thing. But it doesn’t mean it isn't fun to watch. There is something about these four guys, particularly the trio from the first film, that is a true joy to witness as they traverse history and basically just be themselves.
The moments that we’re sure are improv (which will likely be revealed on a DVD and Blu-Ray bonus feature) are truly the best. When the main three look at themselves in the mirror as older men, the “you look like” back and forth, well, we could have listened to for another 30 minutes. It’s just that funny.
People will ask, “Is it as funny as the first?”
Actually, it’s funnier than the first film. But, Hot Tub Time Machine 2 is a whole different cinematic animal. The first film truly took place in one time. It was an '80s flashback movie, and who couldn't have fun with that? This flick, there is an element of peril that what happens in the hot tub can actually affect the fate of the entire world, not just these hilarious idiots.
Our Hot Tub Time Machine 2 review can salute that.
Watch Hot Tub Time Machine online to see how this craziness got started!
