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

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