Movie Review: Daddy’s Home 2 Barely Escapes Being A Tragedy

I imagine the reason why Donald Trump is the way he is, is because he sat his ass down in front of the TV and watched White Chicks over and over and over again. That movie is in every sense of the word, horseshit. Thankfully, Daddy’s Home 2 is not that movie. At the very least, I did not feel the need to gauge my eyes out.

Daddy’s Home 2 picks up where Daddy’s Home left off with Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) and Brad (Will Ferell) happily being buddies and co-dads. But since this is a sequel, you know chaos will ensue and ruin this friendship. Chaos here comes in the form of Dusty’s dad, played by Mel Gibson, who is essentially just playing a version of his 2010 real self (Is Sean Anders going to make a comedy starring Kevin Spacey giving rape advice, next?). And then there’s John Lithgow, who’s pretty much just an older version of Brad. 

When John Lithgow meets Brad at the airport for the first time, they practically makeout. Cause you know, that’s how nerds greet their parents. #2017 #liberation Throughout the movie, they make out a few more times. It takes a special kinda genius to come up with humour as groundbreaking as this.

As for the plot… well what plot? It’s pretty much a rehash of the first movie, except three times worse and with a Christmas tree in the background. Great comedies usually have something to say. “Deadpool” pokes fun of the comic book genre, “Borat” talks feminism, religion, and race. Daddy’s Home 2 says many powerful things too.

At one point, Mel Gibson teaches his grandson how to pick up girls. He tells him to run right over, give her a kiss and smack her ass. So, Powerful social commentary 1: F**k bitches, get money.

In another instance, Mel Gibson says little girls shouldn’t hold guns, they should be in the kitchen (points for originality). The little girl’s mom (Linda Cardellini) says words like, ’empowerment’ and ‘independent,’ and allows her 10-year-old to use a gun. The punchline: she almost kills a man and kills a couple of deer. Powerful social commentary 2: Child shooting is cool cause feminism.

Daddy’s Home 2 is also extremely thought-provoking. There’s a scene where Will Ferell mishandles a lawnmower and it sucks all the Christmas lights, before crashing into a car. It provoked me to ask many important questions, such as is there still a market for jokes like this? and who exactly is this movie targetting? The lawnmower joke suggests 5-year olds. Then again, a boy kisses his sister on the lips, so maybe not. Perhaps these are questions studio executives should have asked themselves before they greenlit this shit.

The biggest problem is that Daddy’s Home 2 doesn’t put its characters on an equal playing field, which is necessary for ‘buddy’ movies (or sitcoms). Take the hit TV Series, “Friends” for example. Joey is the cool, alpha male actor while Ross is the nerdy, sensitive one. But both Joey and Ross have endearing qualities. Both Joey and Ross get the chance to take verbal jabs at each other.

In Daddy’s Home 2 director Sean Anders tries so hard to embarrass Will Ferell’s Brad. He constantly gets mocked by Walhberg’s Dusty and Mel Gibson, with hardly a chance to hit back. He can’t even handle a Goddamn lawn mower for crying out loud. Nobody, not even me, is that big of a loser.

In the scene where Dusty (and his dad) and Brad try to teach their son about girls, Dusty gives advice in the vein of ‘grow some balls’. In contrast, Brad should’ve given more sensitive advice. Instead, he delivers a monologue on how the friend zone is the greatest shit ever. In Daddy’s Home 2 Mel Gibson’s character is the biggest asshole, yet we’re constantly forced to accept that he’s extremely cool.

I’m not going to lie. There are moments in Daddy’s Home 2 where I burst out laughing, but that is more to do with Ferell’s and Wahlberg’s ample talent than the writing itself, because I frankly can’t remember which scenes or lines specifically, had me chuckling (there aren’t many).

More Oscar worthy humour:

1. Dusty throws Brad’s bag away.
2. Brad cries.
3. Brad wears a woman’s robe.
4. Brad gets electrocuted.
5. Brad cuts a cell phone tower.
6. Snowball fight.
7. Brad cries.
8. Brad’s dad has ugly feet.
9. Something about the thermostat.
10. Brad cries.

Daddy’s Home 2 is no Zombieland or Borat and it is certainly not an Edgar Wright masterpiece. But… okay nevermind, there is no but.