Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (15, 93 mins)
Starring: Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, Adam Scott, Gillian Jacobs, Jason Jones, Kumail Nanjiani, Christian Slater, Collette Wolfe.
Director: Steve Pink.
Released: April 10 (UK & Ireland)
ONCE time travel crosses the rubicon from science fiction to scientific fact, I'm charting a course for the day that director Steve Pink first contemplated a sequel to his 2010 comedy Hot Tub Time Machine, to forcefully nip the idea in the bud.
The original film was a toe-curling mess, peppered with stomach-churning gross-out interludes.
This belated and unnecessary follow-up takes the questionable art of foul-mouthed male bonding to even grubbier depths.
"Don't mess with a winning formula!" whoops one of the dim-witted protagonists shortly before a second dip in the mystical jacuzzi.
If anyone willingly hands over hard-earned money to watch this humourless, witless and occasionally offensive aberration, then they deserve 93 soul-destroying minutes in the company of irritating lead actors Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson and Clark Duke.
John Cusack, one of the stars of the first film, sensibly bailed before cameras started rolling, so his character is repeatedly name-checked but never glimpsed in the flesh.
If only Pink's film could vanish without trace.
Childhood pals Lou (Corddry), Adam (Cusack) and Nick (Robinson) have exploited the mystical whirlpool for personal gain.
Lou has amassed a fortune of 2.3 billion US dollars as frontman of rock band Motley Lou and inventor of the search engine Lougle.
Adam courted celebrity with his novel Jacuzzi Timelord then retreated from the limelight, while Nick has become a chart-topping singer-songwriter by plagiarising songs that haven't been composed yet.
The flimsy plot kicks into pedestrian first gear at Lou's annual party where the boorish host torments his son Jacob (Clark Duke) and assorted guests.
A crash of thunder causes a brief power outage and someone uses the cover of darkness to shoot off Lou's manhood.
Nick and Jacob drag the wounded billionaire to the hot tub, add a vial of nitrotrinadium to power the device and prepare to travel back to before the ill-fated shindig.
Their prime suspects for the shooting include Lou's enraged wife Kelly (Collette Wolfe), disgruntled childhood friend Gary Winkle (Jason Jones) and Lougle employee Brad (Kumail Nanjiani).
Unexpectedly, the trio slingshot forwards in time to March 26, 2025, where they join forces with Adam's goofy son (Adam Scott) to unravel the mystery.
Hot Tub Time Machine 2 is a lumbering litany of toilet humour including a generous spray of bodily fluids in an ER cubicle and a splash of sodomy during a futuristic celebrity game show hosted by Christian Slater.
Original cast members Corddry, Robinson and Duke can't muster a single laugh between them, while new addition Scott suffers a "super high intensity psychotropic drug trip" that seems preferable to spending time with his co-stars.
Director Pink turns back the clock to orchestrate each misguided set-piece with the same heavy-handedness as the 2010 picture.
On a positive note, his film is in focus.
1/10
Damon Smith
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