A Bad Mom's Christmas - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

A Bad Mom's Christmas

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
Sequels are always a dicey prospect if you think about it. If you’ve made a successful film the first go around, especially a wild and crazy one, you always seem to want to outdo what came before. If Bad Moms was a wild and crazy “girl night out” type of experience, then you’ve got to amp it up a notch and make it even wilder, and even crazier. It’s just the way it does. Bad Moms was a runaway hit of 2016, making over $180 million on a $20 million budget, but ended up being just another “paint the town red!” film with a great cast. I enjoyed the movie for what it was (I gave it a 2.5/5), but I never once thought that it really needed (or deserved) a sequel. However, money talks and since the first movie made bank, a sequel was all but guaranteed. And, like many sequels, it didn’t make AS much as it’s predecessor ($28 million budget, $130 million box office pull), it still did well enough that I wouldn’t be surprised at seeing another sequel on the horizon in the next year or two.

Last time, we were introduced to Amy (Mila Kunis), Kiki (Kristen Bell), and Carla (Kathryn Hahn), three over worked and exhausted mothers. Amy was the simple mother, with a pair of kids and the unfortunate curse of a cheating husband. Kiki was overworked as the traditional mother and just a bit of a pushover, while Carla was the brash and foul mouthed one of the group who actually had a heart of gold when it came to her own kid. Adventures ensued when the girls decide to give themselves some “me time” and we all got a good laugh. Well, it’s a year later and this time it’s CHRISTMAS! As the three friends gear up for the holidays they all get the joy that never ends (you can already feel the sarcasm) as guess who comes to town for the holidays? Yes, their mothers! In walks Amy’s controlling mother Ruth (Christine Baranski), Kiki’s hyper obsessive and needy mother Sandy (Cheryl Hines), and Carla’s drunk and degenerate mother Isis (like the terrorist organization, as Susan Sarandon cheekily announces to everyone).

Each and of the mother’s are now a bit flabbergasted, and once again, overworked as they try to make Christmas perfect while their mothers make a mess of things. Ruth is bound and determined to dominate the entire holiday season by belittling Amy at every chance, and usurping her role as mother of her own household (usually by doing what ever grandmother does and gives way too many sweets, way too many gifts, and gets in the way). Diminutive Kiki now has someone who is even more bizarre and needy than she is, and Sandy, while well meaning, is about to drive poor Kiki up a tree with all of her over the top attention giving. Then there’s Isis. A mean spirited, drunk of a woman who just seems to want to use her daughter for emotional manipulation so that she can scam some more money out of her before pulling up stakes and heading off to to a Casino.

A Bad Mom’s Christmas is a weird hybrid of the “girl’s night out” story from the first movie, and a typical Christmas movie. As such it really does feel like its at odds with itself much of the time. You have the girls trying to break out and get wild (usually involving booze and getting frisky with random strangers for laughs), but then the film breaks down into the normal cliches of families at each others throats over the holidays. I guess this is where the “was a sequel even necessary?” comes into play. The first 1/3rd of the film involves the girls grumbling to each other before going hog wild to have some good old fashioned “girl time”, but then quickly shifts over to a whole other genre of film as they try to reconcile the three girl’s with their respective progenitors.

Director’s Scott Moore and Jon Lucas (who directed the first film as well) try and outdo themselves, and this ends up hampering the film even more. The foul mouths and hilarious potty humor of the first (as dumb as it was) is dialed up to the extreme. So much so that I was almost visibly face palming myself when the male “dancer” and Carla have their little encounter at her work. It was like the gross humor of the first film wasn’t enough, and the directing/writing duo had to make it even more ludicrous, and even more gross out in their attempts to elicit a laugh from the audience. The actors also fall into this trap as well. As if a solid cast of Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, and other sundry actors wasn’t enough, they had to bring in even MORE big names like Susan Sarandon, Christine Baranski, Peter Gallagher etc, in order to make it bigger and better. The fun of the first film is lessened with the over stuffed cast, and while they do a good job, makes it very obvious that bigger, and more don’t always equal better.




Rating:

Rated R for crude sexual content and language throughout, and some drug use




Video:

Shot on Red Epic cameras and finished at 2K for the home video release, A Bad Mom’s Christmas shows a noticeable improvement over the first movie, with a very pleasant looking 2.40:1 AVC encode. The film still sports a warm honey and wheat tone to the general color grading, with bright and glossy looking skin tones, coupled with a homey “glow” to the image. There’s some glossiness here from the digital photography, but fine details are always excellent, from the close up shots of Amy’s frustrated face, to the little intricate details of the theme park that the trio of parents go to part way into the film (A place the little kid in me would adore to go to if it existed around my neck of the woods). Blacks are solid enough, and show off good shadow detail, but I did notice that the glossiness of the image smooths out things a bit more than they should. It’s a good looking film, and a great looking Blu-ray, and falls in line with many other comedies of it’s ilk.






Audio:

Falling in line with it’s predecessor, A Bad Mom’s Christmas is a rocking time on Blu-ray. Instead of sticking to the traditional front heavy mix with minimal surround engagement, the film goes all out with a boisterous track that really amps up the immersion level. Yes, the movie can get front heavy at times with some of the more dramatic moments, but those moments are fewer and further between than you would expect. The Christmas themed score utilizes all 6 channels equally, with bouncing music and some liberal use of LFE throughout the movie. A busy mall is appropriately noisy, with the sounds of shopping customers humming from all directions. A cocktail party hosted by Amy’s mom shifts directions constantly, with Kenny G coming from one of the room, while the clank of catering dishes comes in from another. The 5.1 mix manages to be a simple comedy without explosions and gunfire, but it DOES create a nice ambiance that really keeps the track moving.






Extras:

• Gag Reel
• Additional Scenes
• Crew Music Video
• Theatrical Trailers

Final Score: ​

The Bad Moms films seem to really have hit an audience, as they’re made for $20-$30 million bucks, and seem to rake in MANY multiples of those numbers at the box office. I personally don’t find the mass appeal of the films, but they have certainly found niche and are doing well for themselves. This sequel is definitely wilder, definitely crazier than the original, but also, just a bit inferior as well. Universal did a great job with the Blu-ray specs for this one, giving it a great video encode and another amazing audio mix for us home theater nuts. Extras are a bit sparse, and at the end of the day the ludicrous humor and insanity of the movie overwhelm all of those technical marvels. I would have to say that unless you really enjoyed the first Bad Moms I would just skip it.






Technical Specifications:

Starring: Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Susan Sarandon, Cheryl Hines, Christine Baranski
Directed by: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore
Written by: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 AVC
Audio: Mandarin: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Studio: Universal
Rated: R
Runtime: 104 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: February 6th, 2018

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Skip It.

 

[Todd Anderson]

The first Bad Moms got some good chuckles in our home, simply because some of the characterizations of crazed PTA parents fit people that we actually have interacted with... it hit pretty close to home. This one... I think I'll skip.

 

[Michael Scott]

if you liked the first one, then this one should be pretty funny too. It's a bit worse than the original, but not really THAT much worse

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Didn't see the original and will skip this. lol.

 

[Asere]

I will most likely skip it although my wife I am sure will want to watch it. Thanks for the review.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Ok. I might give this a spin. ;-)