The Wrath of Becky

 Things have kind of worked out for Becky (Lulu Wilson) since we last saw her. We catch up with her two years after the events of the first movie, as she's trying to sucker a couple of prospective foster parents into taking her in. It's a funny scene that's immediately at odds with the tone of the previous movie, but that's ok, it's making clear the sequel goes for a different, more overtly comedic tone.
 Once she's got social services out of her back, she escapes (or something - just roll with it) with her dog Diego, gets a job and rents a house from a simpatico older woman (Denise Burse) who doesn't ask too many questions and appreciates (and returns in kind) Becky's brand of wry smart-assery.

 But this is a sequel to Becky called The Wrath of Becky... so this idyllic life can't last. And it doesn't: Becky being Becky, she insults a bunch of extremist assholes heading up to make a ruckus at a progressive candidate's rally, probably planning to do more than just holding up signs and chanting.

 Anyhow, the three assholes - the suave true believer (Michael Sirrow), the asshat (Aaron Dalla Villa) and the reluctant one (Matt Angel) - follow Becky home, kill the poor landlady, knock Becky unconscious, and take the dog.

 And here's where the movie started losing me: I mean, Becky saw all of their faces, and we know at least two of them are perfectly willing to kill. The only reason they don't kill her is... well, because it'd be a damn short movie if they did. That's just lousy, lazy writing.

 The three alt-right amigos carry on and meet Darryl, the leader of their terrorist cell - who's played by Seann William Scott, in a similar bit of stunt casting to the first movie. Meanwhile, Becky comes to and decides she wants to kill them all and get Diego back; And because they had mentioned Darryl by name, she's able to track them down (thank goodness he's in the same town, otherwise... well, very short movie, again) at terror HQ, a nice lakefront cabin.

 What happens from there is pretty much the same as on the previous movie, with Becky running a guerrilla warfare campaign against the assholes wot took her dog. Except nowhere nearly as good. To be honest, I didn't think it was good at all.

 One of the things I liked about the first one is that it took its silly premise seriously enough for it to be a decent, tense action film with a very real sense of menace. Here writer/directors Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote seem to think that because it's clearly a comedy, they don't need to sweat the details and ground the action... which is a huge mistake, especially because there's not enough humour, imagination or craziness to pick up the slack.

 All the deaths this time around are pretty boring. Except for one pseudo-elaborate deathtrap (the old tie the grenade pin to the doorknob trick) that kind of strained my suspension of disbelief, the kills are completely unimaginative; There's some gore, but again with the exception of the abovementioned deathtrap, it's all pretty uninspired.

 And since we're here: fuck the idea of a grenade only blowing up the top of someone's skull; that guy would have been wearing his torso as a very red, very wet hula skirt. Would have made a much cooler image, too.

 On the plus side, it's pretty eventful and there's a couple of twists - it's never boring, even though neither the events nor the twists are very interesting. I appreciate the balls of the... well, let's call it the post-ending, which goes so far into goofball territory that I can't disapprove of it. And there are some good lines in there, a couple funny situations; the script is not a total waste.
 The acting is great. Lulu Wilson's material may not be as good this time around, but she does an ace job anyways. And Seann William Scott makes for a convincing, threatening prick, even if he never gets to do anything much.

 Overall, though, this was a huge disappointment.