Horrible Bosses 2

Opens Wed., Nov. 26 at Sundance, Pacific Place, and others. Rated R. 108 minutes.

Maybe the bar wasn’t set especially high, but let’s not dampen the rare, humble pleasure of declaring that a sequel is better than the original. Horrible Bosses 2 is looser and funnier than its 2011 predecessor; and if its R-rated comedy misses as often as it hits, at least the timing is there. The first film’s trio of losers—played by Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day—is now trying to go the self-employment route by creating a new bathing gadget. But their idiotic invention, the “Shower Buddy,” brings them into partnership with a corporate shark (Christoph Waltz) and his conniving son (a manic Chris Pine, from Star Trek). When the boys get screwed over, their response is to kidnap the son and hold him for ransom.

One way the sequel improves the formula is that we can sort of buy these three simpletons preparing an abduction; in the first film, there was no credible threat of our heroes really carrying out a murder, even within the exaggerated outline of a screwball plot. So the sequel doesn’t have to try so hard to convince us, and its mood is less forced. Wall-to-wall jokes ensue, and the non sequiturs are freely distributed: Why does underworld advisor Jamie Foxx (returning for duty from the first film) have a cat tree in the back of his 1975 Ford Ranchero? Because he has a kitten, as he calmly explains in the middle of a car chase. And even the car chase has quirks, including an extended wordless pause while waiting for a train to pass.

Also returning to the cast are Jennifer Aniston—not quite naughty enough to pull off her sex-addicted dentist, but give her points for trying—and Kevin Spacey. But the movie’s good bits come from the way director Sean Anders lets the main threesome play off central ideas that allow for improvisation. Bateman’s deadpan is first-rate as usual, while Day and Sudeikis bounce around like puppies. Even a half-baked gag about a formal handshake turns into an extended bit that keeps getting funnier as it goes along. In short, this lowbrow series has hit its stride, which is more than you could say for its key inspiration, the Hangover pictures. Part 3 is all but guaranteed.

film@seattleweekly.com