Murder Mystery 2

Murder Mystery 2 is a 2023 American action comedy mystery film directed by Jeremy Garelick and written by James Vanderbilt. It is a sequel to Murder Mystery, with stars Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston both returning to star and co-produce.
Murder Mystery 2 was released on March 31, 2023, by Netflix. It received mixed reviews, with some critics considering it an improvement over its predecessor.
== Plot ==
Four years after their escapade in Monte Carlo, Nick and Audrey Spitz have quit their jobs to pursue a new career as private detectives, a pursuit which does not bode well with their marriage. Unexpectedly, they are invited by their friend, Vikram ‘The Maharajah’ Govindan, to attend his wedding on his private island, which the pair accept, believing that their association with Vikram would lend their flailing detective agency some professional credibility.
There, they meet Vik’s French fiancé Claudette Joubert, his flirtatious business partner Francisco Perez - who takes an immediate liking to Audrey, his snarky former fiancé Countess Sekou and her lady-in-waiting Imani, his reticent sister Saira and their old friend Colonel Ulenga - now without his left arm as he saved Vik from an assassination attempt in Mumbai.
At Vik and Claudette's sangeet (music night), Audrey notices a cloaked figure trailing behind Vik's elephant; he subsequently proceeds to faint and fall off the elephant, only to be revealed that he isn'tVik, but his bodyguard, Lou, who has been fatally injured. Realizing it is a diversion, Nick searches for Vik, only to see him being abducted by a mysterious figure, who escapes.
Realizing that they are once again ensnared in a murder, the couple determine that at least two people may have been involved - one to create the diversion and the other to kidnap Vik; their suspicions subsequently fall upon Claudette, Francisco, Sekou, Imani and surprisingly, Ulenga. Their initial investigation prematurely concludes when both of them are knocked out from being roofied.
The next morning, the group are joined by a team of professional detectives led by former MI6 hostage negotiator Connor Miller, who initially maintains a poor view of the couple's detective abilities. Soon enough, the kidnapper calls, ordering Nick to pay a ransom of $70 million at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris in exchange for Vik. 
Travelling to Paris, Miller drops them at the exhange point. Once again, the kidnappers call the couple, directing them to a nearby van where they are in wait. In the van, Nick refuses to continue, leading the couple into a fight with the kidnappers, which ends with the latter group dead and the former group crashing the van into Café Procope. Subsequently, the couple discover that they are being framed for the abduction with footage of Nick running out of the tent supposedly brandishing a knife; Miller arrives and clarifies that the footage is a deepfake.
After taking the briefcase of money and asking them to meet him at the La Madeleine, he is seemingly killed when the car he is in explodes. A mysterious figure walks up to car and grabs the case, only to be robbed of the case when another figure hits him with a truck.
Seeking the assistance of Inspector Laurent de la Croix, the couple trace the truck to a countryside château, where they are ambushed by Sekou and Imani, who clarify that they aren't the kidnappers and are only after the money. Sekou shoots Imani and attempts to kill the couple, but is herself shot dead by a dying Imani.
Escaping the inferno, the duo takes Sekou's Lamborghini and request de la Croix to "bring" Vikram to the Le Jules Verne restaurant at the Eiffel Tower. At the rendezvous, Vik surprisingly appears, having been strapped to a bomb-vest. Despite the bomb's countdown, Nick is calm, reasoning that the killer would never jeopardize the ransom.
Correctly enough, the countdown is suspended and Miller appears, revealed to be the true mastermind of the abduction; he had faked his death by hiding in a bomb-proof titanium chamber within the car moments before the explosion. He attempts to kill the group by triggering the bomb's detonator, but Audrey clings to his harness and is pulled to the top floor.
Nick pursues them and manages to subdue Miller's men before destroying the detonator, which incites Miller to throw Audrey off the tower's ledge, albeit still being connected to his harness. The two men engage in a one-on-one fight, culminating with Nick managing to open the briefcase, causing the money to be dispersed in the wind. Audrey reappears and subdues Miller by tying his harness to the tower's elevator mechanism, causing him to be thrown off the tower into the rotor blades of his getaway helicopter, killing him and causing it to crash into the Seine.
With the threat over, the couple return to the restaurant. During a conversation with the now-relieved group, Audrey mistakes Saira's now-darkened hand for blood, which she attributes to herself having smeared her henna during the commotion. Audrey realizes that Saira wasn't present when Vik's elephant was ushered into the reception ceremony, recalling that the cloaked figure, which killed Lou, had a wet henna stain on its clothes.
Audrey deduces Saira as the second conspirator; her motive was due to Vik's parents giving sole control over their business interests to the flamboyant-natured Vik rather than to her and she was the one who had previously tried to kill Vik in Mumbai. Exposed, Saira attempts to shoot Vik, but Ulenga shields him, resulting in his right arm being shot - causing Claudette to knock her out with the briefcase.
With the commotion concluded, Vik and Claudette decide to elope, but not before giving Nick and Audrey $10 million as gratitude, which the couple accept. Now on a honeymoon in Greece, the couple are accosted at gunpoint by their seemingly-European helicopter pilot, who reveals himself as American; he steals the couple's newfound money before jumping out of the helicopter, leaving them scrambling for the controls.
== Cast ==
* Adam Sandler as Nick Spitz
* Jennifer Aniston as Audrey Spitz
* Mark Strong as Miller
* Mélanie Laurent as Claudette
* Jodie Turner-Smith as Countess Sekou
* John Kani as Colonel Ulenga
* Kuhoo Verma as Saira
* Dany Boon as Inspector Delacroix
* Adeel Akhtar as The Maharajah
* Enrique Arce as Francisco
* Zurin Villanueva as Imani
* Jillian Bell as Susan
* Tony Goldwyn as Silverfox
* Annie Mumolo as Mrs. Silverfox
* Myo Leong as Mr. Lou
* Carlos Ponce as the pilot
== Production ==
=== Development ===
In October 2019, it was announced that a sequel to Murder Mystery was in development, with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston reprising their roles. In August 2021, Jeremy Garelick was hired as director – replacing Kyle Newacheck from the first film – from a script by James Vanderbilt, with filming of the sequel to take place in Paris and in the Caribbean. Sandler and Aniston had confirmed their returns during the September 2021 Tudum Global Fan Event.
In January 2022, it was reported that Adeel Akhtar and John Kani would be reprising their roles from the first film, with Mark Strong, Mélanie Laurent, Jodie Turner-Smith, Kuhoo Verma, Enrique Arce, Tony Goldwyn, Annie Mumolo and Zurin Villanueva joining the film as newcomers.
=== Filming ===
Principal photography began in January 2022, in Hawaii. Filming wrapped on April 8, 2022, in Paris, France.
== Release ==
Murder Mystery 2 was released on March 31, 2023 by Netflix.
== Reception ==
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 52% based on 64 reviews, with an average rating of 4.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A genially mediocre sequel to its similarly middling predecessor, Murder Mystery 2 could have been much better… and a whole lot worse." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 44 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."
== Videos ==
Murder Mystery 2 - Official Trailer - Netflix
Category:American films
Category:2023 films
Category:2023 in film
Category:2023 American films
Category:2020s films
Category:2020s in film
Category:2020s American films
Category:Netflix films
Category:Streaming films
Category:Happy Madison Productions films
Category:English-language films
Category:Films shot in Hawaii
Category:Films shot in France
Category:Action comedy films
Category:American action comedy films
Category:2023 action comedy films
Category:Mystery films
Category:Films written by James Vanderbilt
Category:Films starring Adam Sandler
Category:Films starring Jennifer Aniston
Category:Films starring Mark Strong
Category:Films starring Jodie Turner-Smith
Category:Films starring Tony Goldwyn