For a movie that essentially started in a writer’s meeting somewhere in LA with the question, “What if you really did want to kill your employer?” the original Horrible Bosses was a surprise hit. As such things go in Hollywood, it made enough money and gained enough fans to earn a sequel.

With such a niche concept at it’s core, the challenge with making a second film comes with the added responsibility of stepping up the story and raising the stakes – which is hard to do! Especially in a comedy.

So, how does director Sean Anders hook you in? Star Power. It is a triumph to cast legendary Oscar Winner Christoph Waltz as the primary antagonist, the new boss. Our three heroes (Jason Bateman, Jason Sudekis and Charlie Day) must attempt to take him down after they are screwed out of a business deal. The trio are left in heavy debt and bear the onus of being personally responsible for losing the jobs of their employees who now work for them at their self-owned company making novelty showerheads.

This sets up the big questions: How to get revenge? How to up the ante? How will they return to the life of crime visited in the first film – the novelty plot trope we are paying our $16.00 a ticket to see?

Re-enlisting Jamie Foxx as their criminal associate, the bumbling, hapless trio decide to kidnap Waltz’s son Rex (played amazingly well by Chris Pine) and hold him to ransom. Cue what is more or less the same movie as last time but with a new scheme – setting the leads into hilarious scenarios where they are not only way out of their depth, but seem to just scrape through by luck, divine intervention or sheer script convenience.

By no means though is this a short cut. In fact in many ways the script is more free flowing in this new instalment. It seems the comedian protagonists were given more free reign to improvise and bounce jokes off each other. It really builds their rapport and lifts some humorous and amusing moments. Couple this with a new director who executes a few notable sequences (time lapses and a solid car chase sequence) and overall Horrible Bosses 2 impresses.

There are other ways that Horrible Bosses 2 will bring audiences into the cinema again: returning casts. With arguably some of the best parts of the original film being cameos. In the sequel, Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Spacey reprise their despicable characters and steal every scene they are in.

These amazing cameos lead me to an interesting question; who of the three mains is the funniest? The best answer I could come up with is: all of them. At the same time, though: none of them. I can’t help but think of what a juggernaut this series could be if the main characters were played by A-list comedic actors because, more often than not, the jokes don’t pay off.

Despite the clever script and the classic technique of ‘bringing a joke back around’ (essentially Rule Numnber One for comedy), the main characters misfire too many times for this film to be considered in anybody’s favourite list. Nonetheless, Horrible Bosses 2 is a fun and enjoyable way to spend a few hours out of the blistering sun to see with some friends.

Horrible Bosses 2 is now showing at Palace Electric and cinemas across Canberra.