Watched in the cinema (54th visit in 2021)

What is successful once is successful a second time. Or even more often. That's probably what they thought with "The Boss Baby". At the time, it was already clear from the end credits that a sequel was being eyed. But it was the impressive box office takings of over 500 million dollars - almost five times the budget - that probably tipped the scales in favour of continuing the story of the two brothers. First there was a Netflix series, which lasted four seasons, and then it was to continue in a big way. However, the Corona pandemic interfered with the second film, "Boss Baby: Family Business" (German title: "Boss Baby: Schluss mit Kindergarten"-no more kindergarten), which first made production difficult and then led to a postponement of several months.

And was the long wait worth it? So-so. As a general rule, stories that derive their appeal from their own absurdity have the problem that they are difficult to repeat. This is also the case here. Sure, the scenario laid out in Marla Frazee's books was funny when supposedly ordinary babble babies turn out to be secret agents of an organisation pulling the strings in the background. Because you first have to come up with such a stupid idea, the surprise effect was great. That's why "Boss Baby 2" couldn't achieve a comparable effect. It would have been all the more important to compensate for this inherent shortcoming in some other way.

Instead, a situation similar to that of the first part was created by hook or by crook. As is well known, this ended with the two brothers being adults. But since they were needed as children again, an element was used to restore the old status quo. This is not convincing. Sure, with a series that is nonsensical anyway, the temptation can be great to just want to tell the story somehow. In "Boss Baby 2", however, this return to childhood was so awkwardly implemented that some of the original charm falls by the wayside. To suddenly reintroduce conflicts as if the development in the first part had not taken place is also lazy. Even in a film like this, one can make more of an effort.

This strange mixture of sequel and repetition is also the result of a larger subplot: the film is about how the brothers became estranged and are now getting closer again. This somewhat more emotional part, which is also strongly reminiscent of the predecessor, is expanded to include daughter Tabitha. For she, too, deals with the theme of detachment and estrangement. In principle, there is nothing to be said against wanting to tell such a story. But "Boss Baby 2" gets tangled up in the attempt to somehow coherently link it all together. The film is on the move in too many places at once and falls apart into several components. Some of them can be quite nice. There are some funny moments in between, for example, in relation to the events at the elite school. And even if the scenes about dad and daughter are not necessarily demonstrations of great creativity: they are kind of cute. In addition, the action is sometimes quite turbulent, which should appeal to the young target group in particular.

Nevertheless: Overall, "Boss Baby 2" is a rather superfluous sequel that somehow wants to repeat its predecessor, but has no idea what that might look like. Since DreamWorks Animation's visuals are no marvel either, the animated comedy is ultimately something to keep young fans occupied. But the world wouldn't exactly be poorer without it.