Horrible Bosses 2 R
After failing to kill their bosses in the first installment, a trio of disgruntled ex-employees played by Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis create a product called “The Shower Buddy.” After it receives a dose of tongue-in-cheek press, the pals make a handshake deal with a shady investor (Christoph Waltz) that throws them and their fledgling company into bankruptcy. Hoping to force their investor to pony up with the promised cash, the buds kidnap the investor’s preening son (Chris Pine), who turns out to be more trouble than his ransom is worth. While the film benefits from a few cruelly hilarious moments and from the reappearance of Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Spacey as the guys’ ex-bosses, overall this ineptly scripted, plotted and directed effort misfires with too many gags that fail to get the job done. (Lisa Miller)
Penguins of Madagascar PG
Now appearing in their fourth Madagascar film, Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private (voices of Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Conrad Vernon and Christopher Knights) are bird-brained, globetrotting penguins and super spies. Here, villainous Dr. Octavius Brine (John Malkovich)—along with a group of land-capable octopi—plan world destruction to achieve their own ends. Ever resourceful, the penguins join forces with a polar bear, a wolf and a pair of owl chicks (Benedict Cumberbatch, Peter Stormare, Ken Jeong and Annet Mahendru) from a covert organization calling itself The North Wind. Poised to top a cumulative $2 billion in box office receipts with the release of this feature, in addition to previous films, the lucrative franchise boasts three television seasons. Rather than rest on its laurels, DreamWorks casts name actors, then provides them with enough quality material to keep the franchise going and going and going. (L.M.)
