As Good As It Gets

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

For a start I have never seen the first hot tub time machine but I get the idea so I watched this completely average sequel. The premise sees one of the crew get killed in present day so they have got to use the hot tub time machine to go to the future. Now all of the crew were good in this film including nick robinson and adam scott. Everybody played there role well and their chemistry felt real in the film. However, some of the other characters your meant to care about aren't that effective in their roles. The story is just overly convoluted and confusing for a comedy. Plus there are some really pointless sub plots in this film that end up really not mattering. The script had some funny dialogue and I liked most of the pop culture references. But, when they try the drama it just doesn't work and neither does some of the humour. The style is sometimes grotesque and at times it is funny but at times it just seems really cheap. Overall this isn't a terrible film but only has a few decent laughs. If you do watch this film continue watching after the credits for the best part of the film.

I actually don't remember if I found that the first Hot Tub Time Machine movie was funny or not but what is for sure is that the second Hot Tub Time Machine a piece of garbage is. It is supposed to be funny, that's what comedy is about. And I don't know what they tried at every second of the movie, but it for sure was not funny at all. I laughed once during the whole movie, and even that laugh was kind of forced. It is probably one of the worst comedies I ever saw in my life, and I can tell you I saw a lot of awful movies. Adam Scott is probably one of the least funny actors in the business. I don't know if it's just me but in Parks and Recreation (that I absolutely love by the way) he is also the weakest link. That guy is just not funny at all, and I don't get why they make him play comedies because it won't ever work with him. Rob Corddry was also extremely unfunny and annoying. How this movie can still get a 5.1 rating is beyond me. It's a disgrace to real comedies. I rather watch paint dry then watching this garbage again.

Sequels for films in general are a case of diminishing returns, this proves true if a) the concept is already running thin and b) it is part of the comedy genre. Look at the Hangover series. The first film was a good comedy with a heart. The first 'Hot Tub Time Machine' followed suit but with a better plot and funnier jokes. 'Hot Tub Time Machine 2' follows the exact same formula as its predecessor with a little twist. Remember 'The Hangover Part II', it was essentially the very same film as the first but lacking humour and a soul. Unfortunately you can say the same about 'Hot Tub Time Machine 2'. A premise that only required one film to be explored in, but inexplicably has a sequel because it is guaranteed to make money - well not this time, the film flopped hard, no chance of a second sequel then!In the first 'Hot Tub Time Machine' film, Lou, Nick, Jacob and Adam inadvertently sent themselves back in time from 2010 to 1986. This time the present day has been completely changed as a result of the events that took place during the first film. The arrogant Lou is a billionaire, Nick a famous song stealing artist, Jacob remains the only one that has not changed and Adam does not make a reappearance. Instead we get his child Adam Jr. This is like swapping caviar for a big mac. Adam Jr. is not introduced into the film until Lou, Nick and Jacob use the hot tub time machine for one last dip. In 2015 Lou is shot and bleeding to death. The three of them try to go back in time, instead entering the very near future of the world. It is their mission to discover who wanted Lou killed. This time the ride will be anything but smooth.Where do I start with 'Hot Tub Time Machine 2', with a film so pointless, irritating and lazy I want this to be over quickly much like the film itself. The acting is bad. Well, awful. No, horrendous. The script may be to blame, but the likable characters from the first are all gone. Bar Craig Robinson's Nick. A glimpse of an actor trying so desperately to do good amongst the chaos that you want to like the film. But no. This film is repulsive; I hated every frame of it. It is one thing to assemble such comedic talent and then to crush it completely strangling all creativity out of the equation.'Hot Tub Time Machine 2' has a script that fails on every conceivable level. The tone for one is all over the place. Lurching from romance, friendship and bonding to drug abuse, suicide attempts and rape. This does not work pure and simple. I counted homophobic, racist and hurtful jokes. This is towards almost all genders, races and cultures. 'Hot Tub Time Machine 2' has the nerve to steal its plot almost beat for beat from 'Back to the Future Part II'. Did anyone know how great a travesty they had wrote? Maybe. Did they stop there? No. After all money is still money. Whether it is tainted or practically stolen from the pockets of the audience does not matter. It is best to invent a time machine, go to the year 2010 and tell all involved with the first film to steer clear of a sequel, no matter how big the pay check.Amongst the penis, boob and ball jokes, it still makes time for the most non sensical sub plot put to film. A smart car tries to kill Lou. I am done here. I left the film halfway through and any true fan of the first film should avoid the sequel like a contagious disease.'Hot Tub Time Machine 2' is the worst kind of sequel. Irritating, endless and annoying. The jokes are not in good taste and you can almost hear the cash machine register as the actors pick up their checks and leave as quickly as possible. My advice? Treat 'Hot Tub Time Machine 2' like a night out gone awfully wrong. To cure the hangover return to the first film and if they do make a third invent your own time machine to erase the Director and writer from film making itself.

With the success of the 'Hot Tub Time Machine', both critically and financially, it made sense to make a sequel. Well that time has come and original director and writer Steve Pink and Josh Heald have conjured up more or less a similar story, but this time with more gross out humor and less 80's pop culture references. Instead of going back in time, the gang minus John Cusack jumps in the tub and end up in the year 2025 in New Orleans, where it looks more like 2015 with the exception of pets flying on hover boards and automobiles acting like humans.It's fairly difficult these days to make something fresh and original in the time-travel genre. More often than not, it's the same thing we've seen over and over, with a few exceptions. And as a young Jacob (Clark Duke) tries to explain to Lou (Rob Corddry) and Nick (Craig Robinson) why they are in an alternate timeline of 2025, Nick can only compare things to 'The Terminator' or 'Looper'. If you try to in the least bit to understand the time travel equations or aspects that 'Hot Tub Time Machine 2' is trying to convey, you might have an aneurysm.The best case scenario is that you go into this with an open mind and laugh at all the raunchy jokes and hilarious improv these actors deliver. Make no mistake, you'll leave with sore cheeks from laughing so hard. Heald and Pink give us a montage of what's been going on with our characters since the first film. Lou has become even more of a dick since the first film and has single handedly crashed and burned his company 'Lougle', whereas Nick has continued to "write" hit songs and make tons of money. As for Jacob (the supposed smart one of the group), he has literally done nothing with his life, besides watch television and become the brunt of abuse from his dad Lou.During a party for Lou, a mystery person shoots Lou's dick off with a shotgun, where Lou, Nick, and Jacob jump into the hot tub again (a quick explanation is given as to why Lou has the hot tub) and are transported to the year 2025 to save Lou's life. I know, how could Lou be alive and have his man parts in tact in the future, when we clearly see them blown to bits in the past. It's all loosely explained as an alternate timeline, but again, try no to think about it too much. So now the three men must try and find and stop Lou's killer.Corrdy explained in an interview recently that this type of film wasn't John Cusack's affinity, which is why he probably wasn't in the film, although he is mentioned quite a bit. In this alternate time line, Pink and Heald did a good job of replacing Cusack with Adam Scott, who plays Cusack's character's son. It's quite fun as Adam Scott fully commits with his warm almond milk and man skirt. These four guys riff off each other perfectly, and as seasoned comedians, always deliver each joke with perfect timing.Perhaps the highlight of the film is a Christian Slater hosted reality show called 'Choozy Doozy', where anal rape is common. Instead of a fairly cohesive story like we had in the first film, Pink and Heald decided to put a bunch of raunchy and vulgar scenes together to gain more laughs and gross out moments, than a fluid story. But the camaraderie of these four guys and their funny jokes definitely keep this film from being the big stinker it could have been. But luckily for you and I, 'Hot Tub Time Machine 2' delivers the laughs often, even if many things don't make sense or play out.