HOLLYWOOD—The 2016 comedy “Bad Moms” was absolutely hilarious. It was unlike anything seen in the cinematic universe in quite some time, so I was not surprised to see the flick earn major kudos at the box-office. We all know what that means right: sequel! However, this sequel doesn’t capture the same magic as its predecessor. “A Bad Moms Christmas” turns the focus on the holidays as our returning characters Amy (Mila Kunis), Kiki (Kristen Bell) and Carla (Kathryn Hahn) attempt to juggle all the chaos and madness that comes with the holidays, specifically Christmas.

So what is the issue with “A Bad Moms Christmas?” It attempts to be funny, whereas its predecessor was naturally funny by taking these very different women, a perfectionist, a supermom, and a foul moth and placing them in the most unexpected situations. The comedy attempts to recapture that magic with the introduction of Kiki, Amy and Carla’s mothers portrayed by Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines and Oscar-winner Susan Sarandon.

As a viewer, I can see where flick was headed: our characters are nothing more than a slice of their perfect or in Carla’s case not-so perfect mothers. It would have actually worked better if we got slices of their mothers who were polar opposites of their daughters. Why? It would just allow plenty more hilarity to transpire between the ladies. Watching “A Bad Mom’s Christmas” I got the feeling the writers aim was to see how much raunchier or unpleasant comedy they could deliver to the viewer without considering rather the punchline would deliver or fall flat.

No one should have expected the narrative to be something of epic proportions; I mean it’s a film about mom’s doing very bad things with the holidays in our presence. However, within the first act of the movie, you can already predict how things will ultimately end which is a bummer. That element of surprise that was constant the first time around is nearly non-existent this time around.

Kunis, Bell and Hahn deliver suitable work, but I’d actually give that gold star to Hahn who is a standout in this film as well. Kudos are in play for Sarandon as well who isn’t afraid to go to extreme lengths to deliver a few laughs for the audience and to make one actually say, “Did she just do that?” Yeah, she did people, yes she did. “A Bad Moms Christmas” has laughs, but the originality that was so sharp the first time around misses the mark here. Who knows, based on how the movie ends we could be seeing a third chapter in the franchise, seeing the ladies jet off to a place where debauchery is known to transpire all the time.