Film Review: Back to the Funny in ‘Hot Tub Time Machine 2’

CHICAGO – The concept is a hot tub, that also acts as a time machine. It practically writes itself! The too-meticulous plot of “Hot Tub Time Machine 2” still delivers a decent amount of laughs, although most of them fall under the crude and rude category. Better a cheap laugh than no laugh.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

It is almost impossible to critique such a film, because it basically throws every possible joke against the wall, and a number of them stick. The plot has a Dada-like surrealism to it, going in such different directions that it becomes useless to try and follow at some point, and the characters have the same lack of consistency. The script – by Josh Heald – allows each of the principal characters to do whatever they want at some point, with no regard as to what persona had been assigned to them, as long as the word ‘f**k’ is put to maximum use and as long as the Freudian-like obsession with male genitalia is intact.

The gang from the first “Hot Tub Time Machine” story – Lou (Nate Corddy), Nick (Craig Robinson) and Jacob (Clark Duke) – are back, and have taken full advantage of their ability to manipulate time. For example, Lou has become a mad inventor, revolutionizing the internet with “Lougle.” Nick has rewritten every pop song before their original creators can think of it, and consistently wins Grammys.

Jacob, Lou’s son, is probably the only time traveler not benefiting from knowledge gained while bending the continuum, and despises his crass father for it. The situation goes awry when someone at a massive party at Lou’s mansion shoots him in the groin, and it is discovered that the Hot Tub Time Machine from the first film could alter the circumstances so Lou doesn’t get shot. This time the gang goes ten years into the future, meeting a relative named Adam (Adam Scott), and taking on the task of aligning multiple time shifts.

”Hot Tub Time Machine 2” opens everywhere on February 20th. Featuring Craig Robinson, Adam Scott, Nate Corddry, Clark Duke, Gillian Jacobs, Jason Jones, Kumail Nanjiani and Chevy Chase. Written by John Heald. Directed by Steve Pink. Rated “R”