Skip to main content

Murder Mystery 2 Review


 In an age where sequels are no longer better than their predecessor, it’s hard to find one good sequel that makes the concept of the original project better. Luckily for Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, their film Murder Mystery came out right after Knives Out, when the hype for whodunnits was in demand. The first film was fun because they were both back together again, and it had a decent cast with a good story. And more importantly, it was funny. Fortunately, Murder Mystery did extremely well on the platform because everyone loves Sandler and Aniston together, but it didn’t need a sequel. 

In this sequel, Nick (Sandler) and Audrey (Aniston) have become full-time detectives struggling to get their private eye agency off the ground. Their best friend, The Maharajah (Adeel Akhtar), invites them to his wedding last minute. Nick and Audrey decide to go on this lavish vacation, only to have their friend kidnapped in the middle of the ceremony. The suspect list is long, and many characters in the mix would want The Maharajah dead. The issue with this film is that it isn’t funny. Every joke delivered felt perfectly set up to give Nick and Audrey the punchlines. Jeremy Garelick's direction felt like a series of scenes that didn’t flow. 

The story was moving too fast to even care about the characters or their tie to The Maharajah. There’s no depth to these characters or even an exploration of their backstories to make this more complex. Everything was explained and not shown to viewers. That’s the reason why it’s not as engaging as a mystery. By the time the third act started, there had been a twist that didn’t make sense and had a predictable ending. Some action scenes worked well. It was nice to see Aniston take over as the heroine. It’s hard not to love the natural chemistry between Aniston and Sandler. But it sadly wasn’t enough to hold this mystery together. 

Murder Mystery 2 is an empty sequel. The humour feels forced, and the mystery isn’t as engaging. In true sequel fashion, they even managed to leave the ending of this one open for a third instalment. Unfortunately, Sandler and Aniston didn’t bring the same energy as they did in the first film. Sequels need to have a strong story. The same characters solving the mystery feed off suspects to add that humour and intrigue. If this does well on Netflix this weekend, there could be a third instalment. And hopefully, they could find the magic that made the first one enjoyable to close out this trilogy. 

1.5/5

Review by: Amanda Guarragi 

#movies #films #moviereviews #filmreviews #1STReviews #MurderMystery2 #AdamSandler #JenniferAniston #Netflix #NetflixFilm #Comedy #HappyMadison #Mystery 

Popular posts from this blog

Boss Level Film Review

       Boss Level is a new addition to the time loop genre, with a twist. Ex-special forces officer, Roy Pulver, played by Frank Grillo, relives the same day until he dies. Every day he is hunted by assassins and when killed, he wakes up back in his bed where he started, only to have to try and survive all over again. Roy has no idea why he is stuck in this infinite time loop but he must do what he can to survive, and the longer he survives, the more he uncovers about his particular situation.  Unlike most action films that take time to build up, this film gets right into it and offers tons of non-stop combat sequences that would satisfy any lover of action films. Its erratic flow makes for some fun action scenes which come out of nowhere since Roy can expect the assassins to attack at any moment. If you play video games often and have ever been stuck on a level for hours or even days, you know the feeling of having to repeat the same thing over and over again u...

Godzilla vs. Kong Film Review

         Godzilla versus Kong is the action movie we have been longing for since all major blockbuster films pushed back their release dates. After three solo films between Kong and Godzilla, we finally see the two titans clash on film for the first time in what is the culmination of the Universal Monsterverse. The story is split nicely in two as team Kong and team Godzilla each have their own mission. Team Kong is on a secret mission to the center of the earth to uncover the mystery of the titans. This team consists of Dr. Nathan, Dr. Ilene, Maia, and the Youngest character in the film, Jia. Team Godzilla consists of Madison, Josh, and Bernie who are also on a secret mission, to infiltrate Apex Cybernetics with the theory that they are up to no good and are the reason why Godzilla has been acting up recently. The dynamics of the teams are well balanced as the Kong story provides us with serious and more action-heavy bits in contrast to the Apex team story that ...

Inside Out 2 | Review by: Stefano Bove

  Nine years ago, Pixar introduced us to Riley, a young girl who is trying to grow with change happening with herself and her family. Her emotions; joy, anger, sadness, fear and disgust help her through these difficult times.   Now two years, Riley is 13 and is going through new life changes physically and emotionally as she tries to grip with the reality that the rest of her life relies on how the next weekend goes. All of these changes spark new emotions to grow inside of her.  It is a tough time for Riley that she must overcome. It is a snapshot in time that is probably a big emotional trigger for audiences as well as we go on this journey with Riley. Taking the incredibly intricate memory world that was established in the first film, the sequel makes a few minor additions that allow it to feel familiar but still fresh enough to keep us engaged. Many of these new additions are some of the funniest moments in the entire series.  With more emotions and human charact...