My Review of Daddy’s Home 2

Rating Scale:

12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made

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Greetings, folks! This is Mr. J back with another movie review for today. At this time, I will be reviewing this 2017 sequel called “Daddy’s Home 2”. To be honest, this movie isn’t really as good as the first one; the storyline, the direction, and the comedy were all pretty decent for the most part, but they were all executed in the most…awkward way possible. It’s basically a repeat of the previous installment except it involves even bigger family drama.

This movie showcases Brad and Dusty living as co-dads in the same household. As Christmas soon approaches, they are met by their fathers who come to visit their extended family. With the grandpas joining the family, their fun time soon takes a drastic turn for better or for worse.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg still managed to slay their comedic roles in this movie. However, the way the story progressed felt kinda rushed. Plus, there were a lot of cringey moments that were just hard to sit through.

Mel Gibson and John Lithgow were pretty good additions to this cast, and their acting was flawless from start to finish. Their respective characters, Kurt and Don, are the exact polar opposites to each other which would explain how Brad and Dusty ended up becoming as adults.

Throughout this movie, we see how both generations clash with each other and how their interrelationship brought out the best and the worst from almost everyone. That concept alone is very interesting, and it had a decent portrayal within the plot.

While Don is the more loving, thoughtful, and jovial Pop-Pop, Kurt is just a manipulative, narcissistic, self-centered careless father who sowed seeds of doubt and discomfort. Unlike his son who had a change of heart at the end of the first movie, Kurt pretty much stayed the same except…he’s more self-aware and tries to at least be more empathetic, I guess?

And I like the direction they took with Brad and Don—showing us how wholesome their father/son relationship is. It sadly came to a temporary halt when Don unintentionally revealed his divorce with his wife, breaking Brad’s heart.

I was really hoping they would get a solid payoff at the end, but it was barely resolved due to the cliche happy Christmas family singing taking up the screen time. I mean, it was sweet and all, but it wasn’t all that special to me.

Speaking of poorly-written payoffs, the entire subplot of Dylan having a crush on a girl was…eh…how do I say it? It made sense ‘cause kids will always have crushes; it’s a part of human nature. I think the issue I have with it is how shoehorned it felt.

I feel like this is something that could’ve been dealt with in the first movie alongside the whole bullying situation. But in this, it felt shoehorned, and it had an absolutely terrible payoff. Kurt gave him some inappropriate advice, and Dylan ended up…kissing his sister instead….I have no words.

And that girl he had a crush on was barely a character. They didn’t talk with each other that much, and she suddenly had a crush on him too? Then at the end, as everybody is singing with their family fun spirit, the girls line up to kiss him.

Yeah, the bottom line is that the ending is cringeworthy and terrible. The character arcs had no satisfying conclusion, and the happy ending felt so forced and unearned.

Oh, and John Cena was…just John Cena. He’s not much of a character either, but he was still…okayish when it comes to his acting. That’s all I can say about him since he’s not in this movie that much.

Lastly, while this movie has its issues, there were still some humorous moments that made me chuckle such as the part where the dads were freaking out over the thermostat, having an argument and snowball fight while dressed up as Joseph and the other shepards at the birth of Jesus, and all the slapstick scenes with Brad.

Overall, this movie could’ve been a lot better had it gotten its characters arcs with more respect, doing away with the ‘Dylan has a crush’ subplot, and removing some cringeworthy parts…like the ending. The premise was still interesting; it just had a sloppy execution. Therefore, it gets a 6/10.

Peace!