Murder Mystery 2 Is Exactly What It Should Be

“Murder Mystery 2,” the sequel to “Murder Mystery,” starring Adam Sandler as Nick Spitz, and Jennifer Aniston as Audrey Spitz was simply OK. This fast-paced film followed the classic “Who Dunnit,” with a cheesy murder mystery plot.

The film starts off with the struggling detectives, Nick and Audrey getting an invitation to their old friend, the Maharajah’s wedding in Hawaii. After they arrive, they meet numerous interesting figures, all with some sort of motive to hate the Maharajah. Quickly, the colorful and lively wedding escalates as an elephant rider gets stabbed, and the Maharajah gets kidnapped. Everyone goes into a panic and the Spitz’ go back to their room. Relatives and friends all come into the room one by one, accusing each other of doing the kidnapping, bringing the Spitz’ to the realization that nobody can be trusted. Following a similar plot from the first movie, Nick and Audrey quickly become spontaneous sub-par detectives. The plot elevates quickly, as the kidnappers demand large sums of money, and the Maharajah gets transported to Paris, where the suspects follow in pursuit. After a lot of predictable fight scenes filled with Jennifer Aniston accidentally killing people, the Maharajah is taken to the Eiffel Tower, and at the end, the killer gets caught.

Although the movie was certainly action-packed compared to the first “Murder Mystery,” it was definitely a downgrade. Most sequels of movies are worse than the original, and this movie followed this theme. I could analyze this movie as if I were an English teacher, but most Adam Sandler movies are nothing but fluff. Even for a Sandler movie, “Murder Mystery 2,” was definitely a disappointment.

The first movie had a followable plot, with action (but not too much action) and was certainly enjoyable. This sequel had excessive amounts of action and death and at some points was hard to follow. In a matter of seconds, Nick and Audrey went from Exotic Hawaiian islands to driving a van down the sidewalks of Paris. In my opinion, navigating Hawaiian islands on a boat through crystal clear waters would’ve been a much more enjoyable setting than the sidewalks of Paris. Instead of the Eiffel Tower, the Maharajah could’ve been kidnapped and held inside an oceanside mountain, surrounded by sharks. Personally, “Murder Mystery 2,” greatly underperformed with the possibilities they had with the setting of the movie. 

The humor was fine, obviously corny, but again, for Sandler’s movie standards, it was fine. The characters were also typical for a lighthearted murder mystery movie, everyone was a suspect, and the least suspicious person was the perpetrator. However, the cluttered plot was truly the downfall of the movie. Seemingly every five minutes, the bad guy changed. For a movie just shy of an hour and a half, the plot changed too frequently. If it was 30 minutes to an hour longer, the plot changes would’ve felt less erratic and would’ve made this more enjoyable. Even the fight scenes were random and didn’t make sense. The elephant rider died from a stab wound in his back, not located near vital organs, from a knife with a short blade. Along with this, the evil van driver managed to survive for several minutes after having a hatchet inserted deeply into his skull. Even though this is a light, corny movie, I would’ve liked to see more realistic deaths.

As much as I can criticize this film from a realistic perspective, it really doesn’t matter. By no means were either of the films in the franchise meant to be cinematic masterpieces that leave the viewer with an elevated heartbeat after the final scene. The “Murder Mystery,” franchise are movies just meant to entertain the viewer, with disposable, quick comedy, with basic plots. People don’t watch “Murder Mystery 2,” and appreciate its creativity of it, they watch it because it’s silly. If I review this movie from this standpoint, it certainly gets the job done. The acting wasn’t terrible, and even corny jokes get a chuckle out of the audience. It has action, suspense, and somewhat interesting scenery.

By no means was “Murder Mystery 2,” an unwatchable movie, it’s just a movie that you don’t have to focus too much on, or contemplate the meaning of it. These simple values are what a lot of viewers look for while watching movies. “Murder Mystery 2,” definitely succeeded in its objective as a quick, fun and silly movie, but surely could’ve made some improvements.

Although I enjoyed the original movie much more than it’s sequel, “Murder Mystery 2,” wasn’t bad for quick comedy. My official rating is a three out of five.