*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*
Christmas can be one of the most wonderful times of the year. Unless your parents are visiting. That's the case for the three moms from the 2016 comedy, Bad Moms, Amy (Mila Kunis), Kiki (Kristen Bell) and Carla (Kathryn Hahn). Amy's mother, Ruth (Christine Baranski) desperately wants her daughter and grandchildren to have the perfect Christmas but proves to be controlling of her daughter's life. Kik's mom, Sandy (Cheryl Hines), refuses to give her daughter any space and even watches her in bed with her husband. And Isis (Susan Sarandon) only turns up when she's in desperate need of money from Carla, however, she insists she wants to spend Christmas with her daughter this year. Because of the arrival of their moms, Christmas quickly goes from the most wonderful time of the year to the worst.
When Bad Moms was released in the summer of last year, it was a surprise hit with audiences and at the box office, making over $183m. This lead to a sequel being announced just four months after it was released. Many sequels can be disappointments but I think that A Bad Moms Christmas is just as good as its predecessor. It's not a perfect film but, then again, neither was the original. However, both films are highly entertaining and fun to watch. I really enjoyed seeing the main characters' relationships with their moms, each had a different relationship. Amy has a difficult relationship with her mother because of her controlling behaviour. As soon as she turns up, Ruth reveals that she's invited over 100 people to her house for a Christmas party, much to Amy's annoyance. This leads to a big falling out between the two towards the end of the film. Kiki finds her mom obsessive and finds it hard to explain to her that she needs space. Carla worries that Isis has only turned up to borrow money but the two end up becoming the closest they've ever been. I think that a lot of people will be able to relate to the characters' relationships with their moms in some shape or form and the stress of Christmas, including buying presents and having the perfect tree and decorations.
The tone of A Bad Moms Christmas is similar to that of The Hangover which probably isn't a coincidence considering Scott Moore and Jon Lucas (who wrote and directed this) wrote that. The three moms, in a funny sequence that takes place in a shopping mall, get drunk and steal a Christmas tree.
I think that the actors that portray the new moms were all well-chosen. I've seen Baranski in many films, however, I mainly see her as Leonard Hofstadter's mother from the popular sitcom, The Big Bang Theory, and her character, Ruth, is similar to her role in the TV series. She's great at portraying the controlling mom who wants everything to be perfect, however, we only see her from Amy's point of view. It isn't until towards the end of the film, we discover why she acts so controlling. I've only seen Hines in one or two films but I know she's great at comedy. She captures the obsessive nature of her character, Sandy, who rarely leaves her daughter's side. Sarandon gives a solid performance as Carla's mother and the two share a memorable scene when they dance with a stripper dressed as Santa. Kunis, Bell and Hahn share chemistry as the three friends who have a lot of fun together.
Like I mentioned, A Bad Moms Christmas is far from perfect. Despite its attempt to be dramatic, there's no tension as it's pretty obvious how things are going to end: with three characters improving on their relationships with their moms and everything ending happily. However, all of this is to be expected with this type of comedy. I also agree that there was probably one too many slow-motion montages. Despite its flaws, however, I really enjoyed watching it. It could've been better but, then again, it could've been a lot worse. It's harmless and its only intention is to get its audiences in the mood for Christmas and entertain them and, in my opinion, it has succeeded.
7/10
