'Daddy's Home 2': An Incomprehensive Film Review

For some reason, I went to watch this film. I haven't seen Daddy's Home, but I thought it would be a good idea to pay cold hard cash to watch Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell argue for 100 minutes.

So, here is a less-than-comprehensive review about the film, including some blatantly untrue facts.

Do you need to have seen 'Daddy's Home?'

Not really, no. It starts off with a nice co-dad equilibrium that was probably achieved at the end of the first film. I do want to say that there are very few references to the events of the first film, but this is impossible for me to know, given that I don't know what those events were.

However, if the first is anything like this one, then I would advise you avoid seeing either.

Was there a story? And if so, what was it?

As I just mentioned, the film starts out with Wahlberg and Ferrell being co-dads, and then they decide to have a big 'together Christmas', to avoid the split Christmas that many divorced families end up having. So far, so good.

BUT, then, they get a call from Wahlberg's dad, who says he is coming for Christmas as well. Then, very conveniently, they get a call from Ferrell's dad saying he is coming as well! Can you imagine?

Each Granddad has the enhanced personality trait of their son, meaning Ferrell's dad is extremely excitable and irritating, and Wahlberg's dad is... just Mel Gibson.

They end up going to stay in a large winter cabin, and chaos ensues, as it would with all those daddies cramped up in such a small vicinity.

It's also worth pointing out that at no point in the film did anyone say "Daddy's Home!", so that was a big disappointment to me. That phrase brings back such joyous memories of my own Daddy getting home safe and sound after a long shift in the coal mines, sometimes even bringing home some coal for us to play with.

Were the cast any good?

So Will Ferrell does the same annoying shit that he's been doing for the last 20 years, and Mark Wahlberg just speaks with that weird, slightly higher-pitched voice. You know the one.

As for the Granddads, John Lithgow is pretty good, and does his best with the poor material, even out Ferrell-ing Will Ferrell. Whereas Mel Gibson continues to strike up an inner struggle between "God, that guy is cool," and "He is a flaming racist though," which makes his performance difficult to praise. As an actor, he's certainly out of place in this film though.

The child actors have some cringe-worthy moments, and Alessandra Ambrosio is particularly bad, given that she's a model and not an actress.

I do have to give a big shout-out to John Cena, however. He is an absolute revelation. I've only seen good things from him and he continues to impress in his acting career. Cena's work has only been small so far, but I find him to be far more talented, funny, and good looking than other wrestlers-turned-actors like Dwayne Johnson or Dave Bautista.

So Daddy's Home 2 is certainly a big yes for die-hard John Cena fans.

'Daddy's Home 2?'

A sequel to Daddy's Home (2015). But why didn't they make the title more interesting? Like 'Daddy's Home Too', or 'The Daddies are Home Again', 'A Daddy's Home Christmas', or how about 'GrandDaddy's Home'?

Seems to me like the writers were just as lazy with the title as they were with the plot, characters, and "jokes" in the film.

Who brought 'Daddy's Home' to life?

Sean Anders. Best known for his direction of Sex Drive, That's My Boy, Horrible Bosses 2, and, of course, the first Daddy's Home.

It's hard for me to comment on the man when I haven't seen any of his other films. But going purely off Daddy's Home 2, I would say he is not very funny, has no clear directorial style, and quite frankly, I do not like his haircut.

Anders co-wrote the film with John Morris, who has worked on some of the films I mentioned above, as well as Dumb & Dumber To, and Hot Tub Time Machine. Morris doesn't have a picture on IMDb, and I could not be bothered to google him, so his haircut will remain a mystery.

Does this film make a poignant and heartfelt comment about the importance of step-parents, who are under-represented and/or mis-represented in the mainstream media?

Nahhhh.

Should you see 'Daddy's Home 2?'

I would say NO! Don't bother.

There are far better ways to spend 100 minutes, for example: sitting down and doing the AQA GCSE Maths Foundation 9-1 (New 2015) Specimen Paper 1, with ten minutes to spare. If you're interested, you can find a link to that here.

MY RATING: 2 Daddies out of 10

And have a look at my other Incomprehensive Film Reviews:

Murder on the Orient Express

Jigsaw

Geostorm

And you can find me on Twitter here.