When the first Murder Mystery dropped on Netflix in 2019, one could have mistaken it for a lighthearted attempt to reunite Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, who had made box office magic in 2011 with Just Go For It. Knives Out did come out later that same year of 2019, but equating the two as locked-room murder mysteries would be like putting a Ferrari and a Hyundai on the same footing. Nothing against the Hyundai, but Murder Mystery was far from having the intricate, cerebral attack that Knives Out possessed.

Fast forward to 2023, and in the continuing saga of Netflix’s ‘love affair’ with Happy Madison, and anything with Adam Sandler’s name attached to it; we now have the creatively titled Murder Mystery 2, which drops on March 31st. No need to explain anything or employ metaphors, similes, or wordplay; here is the second installment of the lives of Nick and Audrey Spitz (Sandler and Anniston); New York ex-cop, and his hairdresser wife.

When we left them in the first Murder Mystery, heady on the success of how they helped solve the crime on the luxury yacht, Nick and Audrey pooled resources and opened up a private detective agency. As the prologue of MM2 demonstrates, that didn’t take off as expected, so they’re happy to accept the wedding invite of returning character Maharajah (Adeel Akhtar), to newfound girlfriend Claudette (Mélanie Laurent) - slumming in this role and just picking up her paycheck. Another returning character is Col. Ulenga (John Kani), who resurfaces as a one-armed bodyguard/head of security.

Just as in the first film, the shooting schedules seem to be flimsy excuses for Sandler and Anniston to go traipsing around the world. This time out, it’s Hawaii and Paris (the first film was shot in Montreal, and several exotic Italian locations). The screenplay is still as obvious and shallow as you’d have it, but who can argue with success? One recurring joke, that hangs around for too long and even resurfaces in the film’s coda, has to do with mispronouncing the surname Spitz. Yup, that’s how Grade School the humor here will be.

Our gallery of Murder Mystery suspects.

In the locked room tradition, there are a range of ready suspects made available, all with the motive for having committed the murder, and the kidnapping of Maharajah. There’s a sister named Saira, a junked fiancée known as the Countess and her flunky, a self-proclaimed Lothario/business partner, and even the wife-to-be. What we don’t get very much of is the texture for these characters. They’re all there as clichéd suspects, and God forbid they get any of the punch lines, which is exclusively the domain of Sandler and Anniston. As a result, whenever any of these suspects are found out or even expires, we don’t really care about the increasing body count.

And it is a shame, as notable actors and actresses have been assembled to provide this support - much like in the first film. So we have all this talent, but there’s not all that much asked of them but to shoot their scenes and help give the film a gloss and shine that’s all for appearance’s sake. Mark Strong has always had a great screen presence, but even he is diminished by the role of expert sleuth, that he’s asked to take on. As is Dany Boon the French Inspector de La Croix.

In short, if you’re one of the many who loved the first Murder Mystery, then this new installment is tailor-made for you, and you’ll even be looking forward to the third installment. If you like putting on a thinking cap when watching a film, then this might be best saved for that very rainy day. Sandler, Anniston, and Netflix obviously know what they’re doing, but I wish more was asked of them. The Hustle and Uncut Gems were really good films that starred Sandler.