Murder Mystery 2 (2023)

Murder Mystery 2 (2023)

 

6/10

Starring

Adam Sandler

Jennifer Aniston

 

Directed by Jeremy Garelick

 

If you saw Murder Mystery 1 and thought your life was missing a part two about the remaining alive characters, and what happened to those two unprofessional humans who happen to be married and forced into detective work, well, Netflix has got you. It may have taken four years, but Netflix delivered with a part two, and I enjoyed it just as much as the first one.

The first film had its haters, with many saying that Sandler and Aniston (as Nick and Audrey Spitz) weren’t strong enough as a duo to carry the movie. But I disagreed then, and I still do now.

This sequel is just as good as the original—and could have been even better if they toned down the “dumbness” of the couple, who have now decided to become real-life private detectives. Funny enough, they’re worse at solving cases when being paid for it than when detective work was just thrown into their laps.

In this film, Nick and Audrey are struggling with their failing detective agency when they receive a wedding invitation from their friend Vik, who’s joined by Colonel Ulenga from the first movie. (The Colonel, by the way, is now missing an arm after saving Vik from an assassination attempt.)

During the wedding preparations, Vik gets kidnapped. Amid all the commotion, a murdered man is found in his place. Nick quickly suspects that this was a diversion to allow the real culprit to escape with Vik. He rushes outside just in time to see Vik being taken away in a boat.

Nick and Audrey decide to involve everyone at the wedding as they try to use this case to prove their worth and save their struggling agency. But their plans take a hit when Vik’s company hires a professional hostage negotiator with a skilled team of detectives to handle the situation.

Things could have been smooth sailing from here, but the kidnappers specifically demand that Nick and Audrey handle the money exchange. Naturally, this goes horribly wrong, and before long, the couple is being framed for both a murder and the kidnapping.

Watching how Nick and Audrey wiggle their way out of this chaos is a lot of fun. The movie delivers even more intense and silly moments than the first one. While I didn’t laugh out loud as much this time, I was completely hooked, curious to see how all the madness would eventually unfold.

Murder Mystery 2 is out now on Netflix—go check it out!