Murder Mystery 2 is the sequel to Murder Mystery, Netflix’s hit 2019 mystery comedy. Both films star Adam Sandler as Officer Nick Spitz and Jennifer Aniston as his wife, the hairdresser, Audrey Spitz. Murder Mystery 2 reunites the two stars as the mystery solving husband and wife duo. The movie sees the two protagonists chasing down their friend, Vikram Govindan, aka The Maharaja, who has been kidnapped for ransom.
If something about that description seems off to you already, you are correct. Without spoiling too much of my own review, there are many things wrong with Murder Mystery 2. With that also said, I had my fair share of fun. There will most likely be some spoilers ahead, so if there is anything about these movies you care about, then I recommend skipping to the bottom for my score on this. Let’s get into it.
The Good Parts of Murder Mystery 2
Murder Mystery was bland and surface level of everything it tried to be. Adding in the meta bits about the mystery structure was annoying. Coming into this second movie, the hopes were much lower. Surprisingly, this was a much better viewing experience and an overall good time. One thing that is frequently neglected from bad Sandler movies is fun. Even if the jokes on screen are not funny, the least the writers could do is make the story fun. Murder Mystery 2 was fun. That is all I need.
Jennifer Aniston as Audrey Spitz and Adam Sandler as Nick Spitz in Netflix’s original film Murder Mystery 2. Image provided courtesy of Netflix Studios.
The Cast and The Jokes
Sandler and Aniston make a decent team. I would be lying if I didn’t admit a third movie with these two as the detective duo would be the worst thing ever. Will it be good? That’s debatable, but who knows? Maybe, this is The Godfather trilogy of married detective couple comedies. I digress. Despite the very drab cast from the first, and the frankly equally drab supporting cast in this one, everyone seems to be having more fun. There’s that word again. The return of Vikram was a surprising delight. John Kani comes back as the one-armed and one-eyed Colonel Ulenga and it’s kind of nice to see him back. Mark Strong is cool when he pops up, and Melanie Laurent always makes me want to rewatch Inglourious Basterds.
There were a couple of moments in this movie that genuinely made me laugh. This came as a shock to me as well, but credit where credit is due- sometimes excess is exactly what is needed. Many of the moments that I can still remember that I liked were all small bits of excess. Honestly, these moments should not have been funny, but they were.
Zurin Villenueva, Jodie-Turner Smith, Kuhoo Verma, Jennifer Aniston, Mark Strong, Adam Sandler, & Enrique Arce in Netflix’s original film Murder Mystery 2. Image provided courtesy of Netflix Studios.
Sandler dropping in on the henchmen saying, “Here comes Brooklyn,” was great. Multiple people getting murdered aggressively in a cliché manner within seconds of each other is great. Vikram calling Nick and Audrey while on a jet ski was great. The small moments that ultimately amounted to nothing, were the best parts of the whole movie and I appreciated them.
Unfortunately, that is pretty much where the good stuff stops. Let us get into the messy parts.
The Bad:
Through and through this is not a terrible movie. It is not a great movie, but it is not an unbearably bad movie. My biggest gripe with this movie, as well as the first, is how everyone is always talking. If any of the things that anyone is saying is funny, cohesive, or serious, then everything would feel better. The brief moments that progress the plot through dialogue seldom feel like things are actually progressing or are helpful. Adam Rambler and Jennifer Chatty-ston simply can not stop speaking words.
There were many scenes that did not seem like productive uses of unraveling this kidnapping. Speaking of the kidnapping; let’s talk about the biggest issue out of all of this.
Melanie Laurent, Jennifer Aniston, Adam Sandler, John Kani, & Mark Strong in the Netflix original film Murder Mystery 2. Image provided courtesy of Netflix Studios.
No Murder, Not Really a Mystery (Bad)
All they had to do for the plot was to have somebody be murdered mysteriously! That was it! That did not happen! Vikram’s bodyguard was killed as a subversion, but that was it. Aside from one of the antagonists getting murdered in a super grizzly scene, a couple small shootouts, and maybe a henchman getting thrown off a building, there was not a whole lot of murder going on. Maybe I am misremembering some other deaths, but it’s unlikely since the title of the movie is Murder Mystery 2 and neither of them were true. At least Glass Onion warped the plot back into a murder mystery.
Imagine The Dark Knight with one of those copycat Batman guys doing the whole movie. Like, I guess the thing from the title is in the movie, but that’s not it at all. Why not just change the name of the movie? Going back to Glass Onion and The Dark Knight, they are both widely successful sequels with different titles from their first film.
Obviously Murder Mystery was the most fitting title for the first film. Call this one Kidnapping Mystery or Missing Mystery if you want to keep the alliteration. This is not my job, so I don’t have to come up with good titles. However, when you have a title that misses the thing it promises, even I know better than to do that.
Wrapping Up the Bad
Long tangent aside, this was not a very funny movie. Again, despite the increase in fun the cast was having, my own personal increase in fun barely ticked up. Neither Sandler, nor Aniston are very good in these roles, nor do they even have any chemistry. Emotionally, there is nothing that binds me to these characters other than that I like these actors.
Zurin Villanueva, Melanie Laurent, and Jodie Turner-Smith in the Netflix original film Murder Mystery 2. Image provided courtesy of Netflix Studios.
In Conclusion
Like I said in the good section, I would not be upset if there was a third one of these movies. My problems are as simple as they come, but the fixes are as simple as being better. If a third film were to appear in existence at some point, I think they honestly should do a different cliché plot. They have covered murder and blackmail, so why not do another film, but with a focus on theft. Make a big stink about a jewel thief in Monaco or something. To me, Murder Mystery 2 is a 5/10.
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