 Truth be told, I'll probably always prefer the first 'Bad Santa,' but I must admit that for a distant sequel (thirteen years between films in this case), this isn't bad for what it is. I would usually accuse something like this of digging into our past to try to resurrect some nostalgia, and probably failing in the process. With something like a raunchy Christmas-themed comedy, though, that bar is already set kinda low. You'll get a lot of cursing, dirty-talk, drinking, smoking, and stupidity. But there are other things about this movie I think they did really well.
For a little background, you can check out my review of 'Bad Santa.' Willie Soke (Billy Bob Thornton) manages to snag him what could be a "happily-ever-after" ending, despite his lush, rude, crude behaviour and everything he's done. But, as time passed, things just didn't pan out, and he's back to drowning his sorrows with alcohol and meaningless sex. The only real friend he has left is Thurman Merman (Brett Kelly), perhaps better known as "The Kid" from the first film, all grown up, and still irritatingly poking his head into Willie's life. One fateful day, as Willie attempts the unthinkable, Thurman drops by to deliver a package that happens to be full of cash, sent oddly enough by Marcus (Tony Cox), Willie's former partner in crime, who (spoiler alert) ended up double-crossing Willie in the first film, and is sent to prison. Having just gotten out, Marcus is ready to jump right in for another big score, but needs Willie's help to crack a safe (which was his expertise in the first film). Willie reluctantly agrees, and is soon headed to Chicago, where the score will take place. Upon arriving in Chicago, Willie soon learns two things he hates about the operation; they're gonna be stealing from charity, and Marcus' contact is Willie's estranged Mother, Sunny (Kathy Bates). However, he also meet his next "interest," Diane (Christina Hendricks) who provides his "light side" here. But upon reluctantly deciding to go through with the operation, he finds another thing to hate about it - he's gonna have to put a Santa suit back on and deal with a bunch of kids who have no idea what's what. In the meantime, that little hanger-on, despite being 21 now, Thurman heads to Chicago to try to find Willie. Going back to what I mentioned before about them doing things really well here, Thurman is one such case. he still maintains his overall innocence, still talks a lot of nonsense, he's still easily excitable, and he still wants to make people his signature sandwiches. He even gets his first job at a Hoagie shop called Hungry Hoagies. He's exactly what you'd think a grown up Thurman would turn into. On the other side of things, I have to give major credit to Kathy Bates for this role. Although we're not talking her typically Oscar-worthy performances, what I credit her with is going all out to make herself look as trailer trashy as she can. It's roles like this that make her one of my all-time favourite actresses, she has a massive amount of range and talent, and aside from this, I'm not sure how raunchy she's ever gotten. Nude scene in 'About Schmidt,' but that was done a bit more artistically than something like... sitting on a toilet with a beer. The thing this movie suffers from is how insanely and painfully obvious the ending is. You see it coming almost from the very beginning. In the meantime, it's probably a bit raunchier and crude overall than the first, but being a sequel, I can see why. It's a matter of outdoing the previous film, and in that, I'd say they succeed. But at this point, I find the first 'Bad Santa' to be almost a modern classic, and I'm not sure I see this aging quite as well. It sounds super weird to say, but there isn't as much "heart" here. Still though, good for a laugh! 3/5
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