Review: Daddy's Home 2

Mediocre minds think alike - this year's so-so holiday-themed sequels to Bad Moms and Daddy's Home both bring in the parents and prove that the more isn't exactly the merrier. At least both were wise in their casting: Bad Moms 2 welcomed Susan Sarandon, Cheryl Hines and the fabulous Christine Baranski into their fold whilst Daddy's Home 2 recruits John Lithgow and Mel Gibson, the former forever confirming his versatility whilst the latter may prove a more divisive figure in the wake of Weinstein.

Two years have passed since the events of the first film, which revolved around the pissing contest between mild-mannered Brad (Will Ferrell) and his stepkids' muscled, motorcycle jacket-wearing biological dad Dusty (Mark Wahlberg). The former rivals have put aside their differences to become progressive co-parents and perhaps even real friends. Yet audiences haven't paid money to see Brad and Dusty play at happy families, so the filmmakers stir up some trouble with the arrival of Brad and Dusty's dads.

It's no surprise where Brad gets his well-intentioned, overenthusiastic nature from for Don (Lithgow) is an absolute tornado of love and kindness. Father and son enthusiastically greet one another with hugs and kisses in stark contrast to the negative energy that buzzes between Dusty and his old man, retired astronaut and hardcore macho man Kurt (Gibson). Gruff and grizzled, Kurt predictably gets under Dusty's skin, especially when he decides to rent out a mountainside Airbnb for the whole family to spend the holidays.

Dusty suspects that Kurt is out to disrupt the peace between himself and Brad and though both he and Brad insist there are no lingering feelings of rivalry and resentment harbouring, one can be safely assured that Kurt shall excavate them and bring them to the fore. Indeed, it's not too long before Brad and Dusty are trading increasingly not so passive-aggressive snipes at one another. If the verbal spats aren't enough to entertain audiences, then the filmmakers thoughtfully include slapstick set pieces with Ferrell on the receiving end of the pain. The bits themselves are not necessarily funny, though the sight of Kurt delighting in Brad's abuse enough to film it with his mobile does elicit a genuine chuckle.

Daddy's Home 2 coasts along for most of its 100-minute runtime with most everyone either on auto-pilot or defaulting to their natural personas, which may be satisfactory enough for fans of the first film and the individual performers. The biggest laughs and most entertainment arrive in the last 15 or 25 minutes, kickstarted by the appearance of John Cena (whose surprise cameo at the end of the first film was a highlight; the sequel crafts another well-chosen cameo). Though one wishes that there was more of Cena or that Gibson and Lithgow switched roles, Daddy's Home 2 is an innocuous enough piece of disposable viewing.

Daddy's Home 2

Directed by: Sean Anders

Written by: Sean Anders, John Morris

Starring: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Mel Gibson, John Lithgow, Linda Cardellini, Alessandra Ambrosio, John Cena, Bill Burr