I recall really looking forward to Hot Tub Time Machine and being disappointed with how not funny it was. It just wasn’t good in spite of having a great cast, an eighties sensibility and my good will. So why would I watch Hot Tub Time Machine 2 without John Cusack, who at least provided the veneer of potential excellence before? Because I am a completist, it is available for streaming on Hulu and was going to expire, and it was literally better than the alternative. It is the kind of movie that you can multitask and watch on your smartphone. If some movies feel like TV movies, this one is made for the tiny screen if you can’t give something your complete undying attention, but silence will only lead to you hearing the inevitable decline of the universe as it teeters on its last legs in the worst timeline possible while surrounded by incompetence.
So within that specific context, I found Hot Tub Time Machine 2 more amusing than the original. I suppose low expectations are key. Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson and Clark Duke must travel to the future to stop a murder. The move to the future leads to better results than the knee jerk reflex parody of 80s movies I actually love Corddry and because he takes center stage as a complete jerk with no sense of shame, I probably laughed more than I normally would given that the humor is below bottom shelf. I enjoy scatological humor, but it can get as boring as the last few skits on Saturday Night Live. The addition of Adam Scott, whom I loved in Parks & Recreations, who plays the original group’s tour guide to the future, evens out the generational dynamic of the group. Craig Robinson’s music schtick roots the film in some sort of semblance in reality and provides a clever cameo.
I’m not recommending Hot Tub Time Machine 2. I’m even ashamed that I slightly enjoyed it. There is an objectively offensive joke about how the future is actually dystopian because of the entertainment, and it goes too far. I hate comedies that solely lean on drugs or drinking as humor. There is nothing worse than watching a comedy and not laughing out loud, but simply saying, “That is funny.”