Director: Jeremy Garelick

Writer: James Vanberbilt

Starring: Adam Sander, Jennifer Aniston, Mark Strong

Rating: ★★★½

It’s been four years since Nick (Adam Sandler) and Audrey (Jennifer Aniston) had their belated honeymoon in Netflix’s Murder Mystery, which also happens to be Adam Sandler’s most watched film from his Netflix deal. Now the couple are back to solve more crimes in the simply titled sequel, Murder Mystery 2. During the years since the first film, Nick and Audrey have quit their day-jobs and started a private detective agency, although they’re not very good at it.

After falsely accusing someone of having an affair, Nick and Audrey are worried that their business may go under. To get away from everything they accept an invitation to Maharajah’s (Adeel Akhtar) wedding. While there there’s a couple of awkward moments as the couple join in the welcoming dance to the wedding, Audrey feels judged while taking too much food, and Nick eats all the cheese he can find. Just as the wedding is ramping up, Maharajah is kidnapped, and Nick and Audrey find their holiday turning into a mystery for a second time, and once again they’re the primes suspects.

There’s a lot of similarities with the set-up of the film to the first one, with the major difference being that it’s a kidnapping not a murder that the Spitzes are solving, although Maharajah’s bodyguard is murdered at the same time, but that’s not the focus. That being said there’s still quite a bit of death in the film, especially in a very funny fight sequence in a van, where Nick and Audrey take out a bunch of bad guys while trying to escape. The van is one of a few great set pieces throughout the film, with a great finale taking place on the Eiffel Tower.

Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston are both really great. They play off each other so well and make the film as good as it is. Even though the actual mystery isn’t that complicated, it’s a lot of fun to watch them stumble their way through the clues to try and find out what’s actually happening on, more through luck than through skill. It’s a lot funnier than the first film, with plenty of laugh-out-loud jokes, and some good call-backs to the previous film.  

Without the credits included it clocks in just shy of eighty minutes (even shorter if you cut out a recap of the first film). It keeps a quick pace throughout the story, never really letting up as Nick and Audrey travel across Paris to try and clear their names, once again. This is something you can just switch off and have a laugh while watching.

Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston make a good comedy duo and them playing bumbling detectives seems to be the perfect casting. Hopefully there will be more to come from the Spitzes.  

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