Horrible Bosses 2

By: Robert Murphy

The concept of getting revenge on a bad boss is something that comes to everyones minds at one point or another and Horrible Bosses nailed that idea on the head when they put average joes, Kurt, Nick and Dale (Jason Sudeikis, Jason Bateman and Charlie Day) to the task of murdering their bosses. Now the three are back and trying to become their own bosses with their invention "The Shower Buddy/Daddy" patent pending. They catch a break with the idea and have a big name catalog company decides to make their dreams come true. The company is run by big bad Burt Hanson (Christopher Waltz) and working along side of him is his son, a winner of the butt wipe of the year award, Rex (Chris Pine). All seems to be going well until the three are double crossed and left with no money to pay their new employees and in order to save their company they once again try to attempt a daring stunt, a kidnapping. As you'd expect it plays out in a serious of wild stints and miss adventures once again as they all prove just what horrible criminals average people would make if they tried these stunts.

Comedy sequels are always a huge wild card and you never can tell just how they're going to turn out, right on the coat tales of another comedy sequel, Dumb and Dumber To, Horrible Bosses 2 swooped in and surprises me with it's ability to stay funny. The problem with most comedy sequels is that things feel familiar, jokes are re-used and things aren't as fresh but that isn't the case here. Yes, there are plenty of references to Horrible Bosses to be seen but they are not drawn out or put on screen to make you try and laugh at the same joke twice. Kurt, Nick and Dale continue to have tremendous on screen chemistry together and could in all honesty riff and go back and forth with banter all day with one another and that is present throughout the movie. They all seem to be more comfortable in their roles, Kurt is still has his sick and I shouldn't laugh at that humor, Nick and his dry sarcasticness and Dale with the little brother type of character who bless his heart tries his best but is so darn dumb. A great aspect for their characters is now that they have their own company, they finally are the bosses themselves but while this is great it's bad for them too. Once the threat of losing their business becomes present they essential face the problem of becoming bad bosses of their own. This and the threat of losing everything drives home the new plot line I think and makes the stale idea of committing another crime more enjoyable.  

Not only is the main cast on point, the other returning cast members and new faces also provide a solid performance all around. Jennifer Aniston and the now incarcerated Kevin Spacey have come back as well as Jamie Foxx and while not much has changed about them, they adopt more into their roles this time around. Aniston is now in a sex anonymous group scene and their is an interesting interaction between her  and Nick, Spacey is as cruel and heartless as before but somehow seems to be even more frightening behind bars. Foxx is probably my most favorite in the returning characters and his cross town cop chase that he leads with the guys has some of my favorite moments from the movie in it. As for the new comers, Burt Hanson continues to amaze with his roles in just about everything I see him in. He brings the power and general jerkyness of a high level executive to life and while he isn't too prominent in the movie, his scenes are still fantastic. Then you have the glossy charms of Chris Pines who is impossibly likable and is really the one who turns the whole thing around on the guys to get them to continue with their plans once he's in on it. He fits in quite nicely with the three and continues to charm and flash his smile to get what he wants out of the whole ordeal.

Some of the fresher and new jokes do push the envelop a bit and were frankly the only parts where I was a little disappointed by the whole thing but luckily they were brief. The sex anon meeting with Aniston and Bateman recount his passed gay love experience brought things to a whole new level. And if the scene wasn't bad enough, the scene that reveals Aniston having sex with Bateman will, brief glances of him bent over an end table will still haunt my dreams. Other instances revolve primarily around the sex angle of Aniston as she finally almost gets her way with Dale by proposing a three way with Nick and Kurt at a crucial point in the kidnapping. It all goes a little bit too far but the scenes were brief and stay out of the lime light just as the references to the previous film do, so hopefully you can move on from it as I did. 

All in all, Horrible Bosses 2 is another great time with Nick, Dale and Kurt once again way in over their heads once again. While I was so apprehensive about the movie, I was surprised to see what I got when I watched it, the three are better than ever with their banter and returning stars hit their high notes once again. The new comers were also fantastic additions especially Chris Pine and his buddy buddy personality, he fits right in to the group and makes himself at home here. As for the unfortunate jokes I mentioned earlier, they can be overlooked for their briefness in the film and you can move on to enjoy all the laughs to be had for this perfect end of the year comedy. 

Good:

- Bateman, Sudeikis and Day are excellent in their roles

- Funny throughout the movie

- New comers and old favorites are back and better than before

Bad:

- Some unfortunate jokes that go a tad too far

Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10 

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

By: Robert Murphy

Well it’s an 80’s film come to life folks in “Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon,” a game that was once thought to be a clever April Fool’s joke was quickly revealed to be in fact a game that brings you back to a game somewhat like “Far Cry 3.” This neon lit world is straight out of a bad movie that you’d think couldn’t possibly be real but brings with it the terrible puns and outrageous action that made you somehow love the horrible effects of the era it’s from. Now we won’t be seeing much of the same old same old from “Far Cry 3” formula, even though it has the name on the cover the game it takes a step away from the somewhat realistic realm of “Far Cry” and ramps it up with sex montages, in your face action and is pretty much everything we wanted from “Duke Nukem Forever” but didn’t get.

Meet Rex Power Colt

This time around we aren’t put in control of a novice at the whole violence game or a reincarnation of our former protagonist Jason Brody, no this time we are put in control of cyborg commando Rex Power Colt, who is the epitome of the ultimate 80’s badass movie character/action hero. Rex is basically a walking cheat code; he doesn’t get tired from running for extended periods of time, doesn’t die from falling of ledges and has the strength to rip the heart out of your rotting corpse. All the while he shoots of cheesy one liners and spurts out general profanity that use to be socially acceptable for a movie and even have a PG-13 rating at the same time, which would be shot down in an instant in today’s world, but I doubt anyone would want to see this movie anyways. As you progress through the story- and yes there is a story here- you are greeted with more and more cheesiness as each mission objective that references classic movies like “Die Hard.” However, as it does with these old one liners and jokes, it does get old and not as fresh as Rex re-use catch phrases and jokes over and over, but hey they all can’t be winners.

 Gatling laser machine gun, I’ll take it!

Our super powered cyborg also comes packed with a new arsenal of weapons as well as new sets of skills to help him take down his enemies. Rex comes pretty well stocked right from the beginning as you run around feeling untouchable, it makes progressing through your skill trees feel a little redundant but ultimately is still enjoyable to unlock new moves that take down the soldiers you’re up against. Even more pleasure comes from the guns you are sporting along the way, running the gambit from things like a quad barreled shotgun, laser machine guns, cyber katana and yes even the classic bow makes a super powered comeback to the game. These come definitely come in handy as well when you take a look at the creatures the games named for, blood dragons roam the island glowing in the dark and shooting lazers from their eyes, these giant reptiles prove to be quite a challenge early on so thank God for all the weapons and tools you’re sporting.

 Sweet Jesus, run!!!

So what else is there to say, oh right umm this game is hilarious, between the action, the eye rolling humor and the out of this world cyborg hero you’ve got control of, there is a lot to be enjoyed from what “Blood Dragon” has to offer. While you may get a little tired of the one liners and over drawn cut scenes in the game, you can quickly take a side step over it while you’re blowing up bad guys with outrageous explosions and weaponry. My inner child screamed out while playing this game and truly ad me laughing the whole time I was playing and while it doesn’t have some of the same aspects of “Far Cry 3,” it was just as much fun to play.

Good:

-Hilarious humor and quotes that made me flash back to some of my favorite films

-Fantastic gunplay/upgrading abilities for your weapons

-Blood Dragons are completely ridiculous but the whole game is so let’s role with it

Bad:

-Upgrading can feel a little pointless since you start out so powerful already

-Not as much freedom to move around as “Far Cry 3”

Scully Rating: 8.5 out of 10