Director: Jon Lucas and Scott Moore
Year: 2017
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 44 minutes
Amy, Carla, and Kiki are tired of killing themselves trying to make Christmas perfect. This year, they just want to take it easy and have fun with their kids. When their moms show up unexpectedly, their plans for a laid back Christmas go out the window.
This "Bad Moms" sequel sure had a quick turnaround time! Gotta strike while the iron is hot, eh?
Halloween is over, which means it the most wonderful time of the year yet again!! Well, at least it is for Hollywood... you know the drill. "A Bad Moms Christmas" is the very first Christmas movie of the season. It is the sequel to the 2016 surprise box office hit "Bad Moms," which raked in a whopping $183 million worldwide on a meager $20 million budget and came out a mere 15 months ago. It is once again written and directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. Returning to star in the movie are Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Kathryn Hahn, who reprise their roles as Amy, Kiki, and Carla. New to the cast are Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines, and Susan Sarandon, who played Ruth, Sandy, and Isis, the mothers of the three aforementioned characters. Amy, Kiki, and Carla are tired of the stress that comes around Christmas. They are exhausted from trying to give their kids the perfect holiday, so this year they've decided they are going to relax and take it easy. When each of their mothers shows up unexpectedly, their stress levels go back through the roof as they clash with the matriarchs of their family on how they should spend Christmas.
We weren't huge fans of the original "Bad Moms" movie. We didn't absolutely hate it, but we didn't really love it like everyone else seemed to love it. It had an occasional laugh but also had some big problems. Needless to say, we weren't exactly hyped to see this sequel. Luckily, we are suckers for Christmas movies, so this sequel has that going for it. We actually enjoyed this movie a little bit more than we enjoyed the original. This is not to say "A Bad Moms Christmas" is an amazing, nonstop laugh riot. However, it does have enough laughs to satisfy even the most hardened moviegoers and kept us chuckling from start to finish. Keep in mind, there are still plenty of misses when it comes to the humor, and when these bad jokes happen, they are pretty cringe-worthy.
We believe the addition of the moms of the Bad Moms add a nice generational dynamic and help give a little depth to the original characters. These three grandmas each represent a different kind of parenting style that the audience may be able to relate to. Baranski is the hyper-critical mother with a taste for the luxury brands and first-class everything, Hines is the stage-five clinger mom who is always around her child, and Sarandon plays the absentee "live and let live parent" who is never around when she is needed most. Christine Baranski does a fantastic job as Ruth and steals the show numerous times. Her uppity, sniping attitude presents the perfect opposite to Amy's lax but caring motherly love. Cheryl Hines is the least developed and gets the least to do, but she plays the obsessed mother really well.
"A Bad Moms Christmas" has plenty of flaws. It almost exactly follows the format of the first film, it uses too many slow-mo montages, and it is a bit too derivative for our liking. But, in the end, we still had a good time and were entertained by the Christmas shenanigans of the Bad Moms and their mothers. We think most people will go into this sequel looking to have a good time, and if you know that you're in for a vulgar, raunchy, f-bomb-riddled sleigh ride, you will probably have a lot of fun!
**Did you know we have a podcast? Check out the episode where we discuss "A Bad Moms Christmas" right here! Our review starts at 56:57!
My Rating: 6.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 6/10
IMDB's Rating: ~5.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: ~31%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?
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