Featured Blu-ray and DVD Review: A Bad Moms Christmas
February 4, 2018
A Bad Moms Christmas - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Making sequels to comedies rarely works out. If the sequel is too close to the original, then it is not fresh enough to be funny. If it is too much of a departure, then why call it a sequel? There are some films, like Anchorman, that succeeded, because there’s a natural progression for the characters that opens up new comedic possibilities. Is this also true of Bad Moms? Does A Bad Moms Christmas stand out? Or is it just more of the same?
The film starts after the action, with Amy narrating how stressful Christmas is for mothers and how everything went wrong. We then flashback to before the Christmas disaster happened when everyone’s life is much better than it was at the start of the first movie. Amy and Jesse are in a loving relationship, perhaps too loving. It’s that or they need to be quieter. Kiki’s life is still hectic, but her husband, Kent, is better at helping at home. Finally, Carla’s life is more stable, although that’s not saying much.
All three women are dealing with Christmas, but they have a surprise awaiting them: Their mothers are showing up. For Amy, her mother, Ruth, wants a fancy Christmas, while Amy wants something low key. Kiki’s mother, Sandy, shows up three days early and is staying for three full weeks. Carla’s mother, Isis, shows up, which in itself is a surprise, as she hasn’t spent time with her daughter in years, for reasons that become apparent shortly after their happy reunion.
So that’s the basic setup. The three mothers are driven to madness, not by an overbearing PTA president like last time, but by their own mothers. Is that enough to make the sequel worth it?
A Bad Moms Christmas is not among the worse comedy sequels I’ve seen, but it certainly doesn’t do enough fresh or new with the premise and the writing is cartoonish, and not in a funny way. Without going into spoilers, Ruth’s introduction is painful to watch, and not because of the acting. She’s barely one step above Snidely Whiplash. The other two mothers are introduced first and they are both quirks rather than human characters, but Ruth is just painful to watch. I literally had to pause the movie and walk away a couple of times when she was on the screen. I do not blame Christine Baranski for this, because again, this is clearly a script problem. The quick turnaround between sequels very likely meant a rushed script and this really shows.
There are some funny moments, and some touching ones, but overall A Bad Moms Christmas is a really big step down from its predecessor. That film was a lot funnier and balanced the raunchiness with the heart. Also, the characters felt like real people, for the most part, not over-the-top creations by a rushed screenwriter.
A Bad Moms Christmas didn’t do as well at the box office as the original did, but it still did well enough to very likely earn a profit before the home market. So it is disappointing that there’s so few extras. There are seven minutes of outtakes, four minutes of deleted scenes, and a two-minute music video by the crew.
This is a massive step down from the first film, so unless you loved that one, you will very likely be disappointed in this one. Hopefully the third film (which is teased at the end of this one) is better. The extras on the DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack are weaker than I thought they would be, so even if you are interested in seeing the movie, a rental will be enough.
Video on Demand
The Movie
The Extras
The Verdict
Filed under: Video Review, A Bad Moms Christmas, Anchorman, Christina Applegate, Christine Baranski, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Jay Hernandez, Cheryl Hines, Mila Kunis, Susan Sarandon, Lyle Brocato