Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

A Bad Moms Christmas Blu-ray Movie Review

A Lump of Comedy Coal for Christmas in February.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 4, 2018

A Bad Moms Christmas, a sequel to a film that didn't really demand one and adds nothing to the series or the Christmastime Comedy landscape, is the unfortunate victim of a very telling double entendre. "Bad" refers not only to the drunken, sexy, and chaotic shenanigans that go down in the movie but also to the quality of the film. To be sure, though, it's well acted considering the demands on its cast, it's competently put together, and audiences open to absorbing yet more repetitive and crude antics will probably get their money's worth from the film. Returning Directors Scott Moore and Jon Lucas craft the movie with an emphasis on spots and leave characterization as only a means to an end for more empty laughs. The movie plays out predictably, with sex jokes aplenty, crude language, and sexy, drunken dances broken up with character "drama" that might be worthwhile if the audience were given a reason to invest in the characters beyond the shallow situational gags in which they participate and that propel the movie forward.

Christmas is a time for family, but the bad moms -- Amy (Mill Kunis), Kiki (Kristen Bell), and Carla (Kathryn Hahn) -- would rather not spend it with their mothers. But, surprise! The moms are all coming to town to wreck and ruin an otherwise festive time of year. Well, it's festive for most. Amy's tired of the rat race part of Christmas and would love nothing better than to celebrate low-key style with her family. Carla's too busy waxing genitalia to care. And Kiki, well, she's Kiki. Amy's mother Ruth (Christine Baranski) arrives with nothing but insults to hurl at her daughter and an endless stream of cash to transform Amy's Christmas into her own. Kiki's mother Sandy (Cheryl Hines) arrives early and intends to stay for three weeks. Carla's mom Isis (Susan Sarandon) just seems happy to see her daughter, but certainly there's a catch. As the girls struggle to deal with the stresses of the holidays, and their own mothers, they make a new pact to take Christmas back and do things their way.

One must give credit where it's due, and all involved in A Bad Moms Christmas give the movie everything they've got. From script to screen, the film sticks to its guns and delivers exactly the sort of raucous, raunchy movie one would expect: combative characters, some sexy Santa shenanigans, lots of laughter and booze, stolen Christmas trees, and another round of the moms putting their feet down against tradition and the social limitations and expectations that bog them down, here at Christmastime rather than in life in general. The film pits the moms against their own mothers, who are each given a distinct personality that clashes with their kids, particularly in the cases of Kiki and Amy, both of whom find their mothers more than a little overbearing. For Carla, the relationship is more superficially amicable, but whether the audience will care to explore more deeply and care about the development as the film progresses is the big question. The film's plot is simply a framework for the shenanigans, and whenever the moments of serious drama -- fights with mothers, usually -- take control, the film's shortcomings become most evident. A Bad Moms Christmas works best within the confines of its mindlessly lurid shenanigans but struggles when the laughs turn to frustrations and tears and the filmmakers expect the audience to care about the breaking or broken bonds between mother and daughter, particularly when, in a movie like this, convention will most assuredly not be bucked and everything will work out in the end.

The most interesting dynamic of the otherwise uninteresting relationships is that between Amy and Ruth. It's the deepest and more intensely developed, the one with the tightest dramatic muscle behind it, the one that hits the heart of the Christmas ups and downs more than any other. Ruth berates her daughter every chance she gets, putting down her her size, her makeup, her cooking, her Christmas decorating. She takes it upon herself to transform Amy's house into one that maybe even Sparky could be proud of, and the snotty socialite spoils her grandkids with big-ticket items, like cell phones and Xbox game consoles, against her daughter's wishes. Of course their tussles turn into terrors as the battle all but threatens to destroy Christmas and tear the family apart. Same can be said for Kiki's mother, who is overbearing in her own way (which includes watching her daughter have sex with her husband), and Carla's, who is closest in personality to the "bad moms" but who comes with her own baggage. But, really, who cares. It's hard to emotionally invest in a character, or characters, when the movie, and the one before it, spends 90% of its time basking in empty shenanigans that involve booze, crude sex jokes, and general tomfoolery. The film features a star-studded cast, doubly so with the trio of new arrivals, but even these actors can't salvage a movie that's comically repetitive and dramatically vapid. But it does try, and hard, so there is that.

A Bad Moms Christmas Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

A Bad Moms Christmas is at least a winner in the Blu-ray visual department. The digital photography leaves little to be desired. The 1080p image is crisp and sure in its entirety, with no smudgy edges or lacking details. Textural wonders abound, as the image finds the intimacy in every skin texture -- including applied makeup -- as well as delivering pinpoint clothing fabrics and faultless precision to any of the appointments in any location, be it inside homes, at a mall, or in a waxing salon. Colors are joyously brilliant, delivering a vibrant palette with no immediately obvious filtering. Cheerful holiday colors dazzle, clothes pop, black levels revel in precision depth, and skin tones appear accurate. Noise is kept to a bare minimum and other source or encode flaws are essentially nonexistent. Fans will be ecstatic when they unwrap this one in their home theaters.

A Bad Moms Christmas Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

A Bad Moms Christmas features a well-rounded DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. It's intensive as necessary, belting music with aggressive posturing that equates to wide front end placement, plenty of surround wrap, and a thumping low end. Lighter score comes just as impressively, basking in the clarity and realism the lossless encode provides. Atmospheric effects filter into the stage with commendable precision and nuanced detailing, a good example coming in chapter five as the girls mill around a mall where music, chatter, and footsteps draw the listener into the location. A few crashes and other action-oriented effects enjoy quality stage positioning and detailing. Dialogue is firm and detailed with consistent front-center placement.

A Bad Moms Christmas Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

A Bad Moms Christmas contains a few empty, throwaway extras. DVD and digital copies are included with purchase.

• Gag Reel (1080p, 6:36).
• Additional Scenes (10890p, 3:52): A line-o-rama feature.
• Crew Music Video (1080p, 2:25): various members of the crew have fun performing in a music video.
• Trailers (1080p): Theatrical Trailer #1 - Red Band (2:04) and Theatrical Trailer #2 - Red Band (2:34).

A Bad Moms Christmas Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A Bad Moms Christmas is a celebration of crude humor and frivolous antics with a Christmas bend. It tries to wrench in character drama but can't make the audience care when the movie's gravitational pull overwhelmingly favors the vapid shenanigans. Everyone gives it an honest effort, and the movie is certainly watchable -- it's not one of those that's hopelessly repulsive -- but it just doesn't break any new ground or even attempt to move a toe off the line. Universal's Blu-ray does deliver top-flight video and audio. Supplements are scant and of little value. Fans can certainly buy with confidence if the A/V presentation is of concern.