Hot Tub Time Machine 2 - D-

Rated R, 93 minutes
Wes's Grade: D-

Pointless, excessively dumb "Hot Tub Time Machine 2" lacks the charms of the original

Well maybe the first one was a fluke. The 2010 hit comedy "Hot Tub Time Machine" was loose, crude and nonsensical fun, the pointless, excessively dumb "Hot Tub Time Machine 2" has nowhere to go, and it's missing John Cusack, who was wise enough to steer clear of this mess. 10 years after the first movie, Nick (Craig Robinson) and Lou (Rob Corddry) have enriched themselves financially - Nick by ripping off music, and Lou ripping off technology. When he is shot at a party, Nick and Jacob (Clark Duke) use the time traveling hot tub to try to get back to the past to learn who shot him and undo the damage, but they inadvertently end up ten years in the future, coming across Adam Jr. (Adam Scott) and doing more harm than good. Delivered by the team that brought the first "Hot Tub" to life, director Steve Pink and writer Josh Heald can't capitalize on the charms on the first one, and it runs out of steam and any novel ideas very early on, and you realize if you've seen the trailers for the movie, then you've pretty much seen the best parts of the movie. Robinson has the only mildly funny scene to open the movie, a cover of Lisa Loeb's "Stay (I Missed You)" followed by a cameo from Loeb herself; the "The Nerd Song" the guys sing to Duke's character is ingratiating as well, though its tag line could essentially be an anthem for the film itself: "and no one loves you, and no one loves you." "Hot Tub 2" so terribly written and full of so many dumb, confusing plot holes I just couldn't buy into it, not to mention it wastes the talents of many, including "Parks and Recreation's" Scott, who looks so woeful in that manskirt, intended to be a sight gag until he wears it most of the movie. Really unfortunate is that a charming actor like Robinson could be stuck in this dreck, though hardly surprising for the vastly overrated Duke (I've always termed him the 'other Josh Gad') or Corddry (who's better on his Emmy-winning TV comedy series "Children's Hospital"), both of whom are so grating it makes the film just hard to watch. The awful and awfully dumb "Hot Tub Time Machine 2" is a forgettable waste of time yet it inexplicably leaves it open to another sequel, but it does answer one question, at least you know what Christian Slater is up to, he appears in the film's unfunniest, cringe-worthy segment. Not worth it, rent the original instead.