“More daddies, more laughs” seems to be the theory behind 2017’s Daddy’s Home 2, as it doubles the number of fathers on display. In the original film, Brad Whitaker (Will Ferrell) overcame a threat from his stepkids’ biological dad Dusty Mayron (Mark Wahlberg) and the two eventually became pals/good co-fathers.

A new challenge arises when the holidays approach and both their dads come to visit. This means Dusty deals with his alpha male pop Kurt (Mel Gibson) while Brad integrates his sunny, overly chipper old man Don (John Lithgow).

At the end of the first film, Dusty remarried and got a stepdaughter of his own. The movie teased that he’d go through the same experience Brad dealt with, as the story ended with the introduction of Roger (John Cena), a bigger, cooler version of Dusty.

As such, one might expect Home 2 to trace that path, which would’ve led to a semi-remake of the original movie. I’m glad Home 2 avoids that predictable trend and branches into a different thread.

That’s about it in terms of “creativity”, as the rest of Home 2 follows resolutely predictable elements – and even the notion of the granddads lacks originality. Crud, Home 2 wasn’t even the first 2017 holiday movie to examine the impact of grandparents on the season, as A Bad Moms Christmas tackled similar territory.

Like the first Home, the sequel offers a collection of comedic gags in search of story and character development. Brad remains the same naif he always was, and Dusty hews close to that direction, as the second flick turns him into a more muscular version of his co-dad.

This leaves the grandpas to add some variety to the proceedings, which they do – in their eminently predictable ways. From beginning to end, they follow paths that we see from a mile away, and not a single surprise crops up as the story goes.

If the comedy worked, this might not be so bad, but the gags fail to create much amusement. The movie throws enough at the wall that a couple of minor chuckles result, but much of the material flops – and flops hard.

An utter lack of logic – internal and otherwise – takes Home 2 off target. Situations exist solely for their supposed comedic potential, so the entire enterprise comes across as strained and contrived.

Laughs come most easily when they follow an organic path. Unfortunately, Home 2 shoves in attempted mirth with no sensible link to reality or to natural characters.

We do find a good cast, and they manage minor charm. The idiocy of the shenanigans restricts their effectiveness, though, as they can’t overcome the severe limitations of the script and scenarios.

I can’t call Home 2 a disappointment because I didn’t think much of the original film. However, I hoped it might improve on its predecessor, so the absence of fresh wit or creativity creates a minor letdown.

Footnote: a tag scene appears after the end credits.

Daddy’s Home 2 appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. This became a top-notch presentation.

Sharpness was always positive. Virtually no softness interfered here, so the image remained tight and well-defined at all times.

I noticed no issues with shimmering or jaggies, and edge haloes failed to appear. Print flaws also failed to mar the presentation.

Home 2 went with a teal-influenced palette that sprinkled in a fair amount of amber as well. Within the movie’s color design, the tones seemed solid, and the HDR allowed the hues to really pop at times – especially when we got warm, vibrant Christmas-related colors.

Blacks were dark and deep, while shadows demonstrated nice smoothness. This was a consistently excellent image.

As for the Dolby Atmos mix of Home 2, it showed scope typical of the comedy soundfield. Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, this meant a limited soundscape without much to make it stand out from the crowd.

A few slapstick/action shots added a bit of immersiveness, as did a few other exteriors, but those instances remained fairly infrequent. Most of the flick came with a lot of ambience and not much else.

Audio quality seemed good. Speech was distinctive and natural, without edginess or other issues.

Music seemed warm and lush, while effects showed nice clarity and accuracy. Again, nothing about the mix impressed, but it suited the story.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? Audio remained identical, as both discs included the same Dolby Atmos track.

Visuals differed, though, as the 4K UHD boasted clearly superior picture. Honestly, I felt surprised how much better the 4K looked, as it brought obvious improvements in terms of sharpness, colors and contrast. Though the Blu-ray offered good visuals, the 4K easily topped it.

Though the 4K disc itself lacks extras, the included Blu-ray copy packs a mix of materials. When we shift to extras, we find five featurettes. Making a Sequel lasts four minutes, 50 seconds and included comments from director Sean Anders, co-writer John Morris, producer Chris Henchy, VFX producer Sean Devereaux, and actors Mark Wahlberg, Will Ferrell, Linda Cardellini, John Lithgow, Mel Gibson, and Scarlett Estevez.

“Sequel” gives some thoughts about transitioning to a second film, story/characters, and the atmosphere on the set. It’s nearly 100 percent fluff.

During the seven-minute, 16-second Look Who’s Back, we hear from Anders, Wahlberg, Ferrell, Cardellini, Estevez, Henchy, and actors John Cena and Alessandra Ambrosio. This one follows cast, characters and performances to become another fairly substance-free show.

Next comes Co-Dads: Will and Mark. It takes up six minutes, 36 seconds with info from Anders, Ferrell, Wahlberg, Cardellini, and Lithgow. We hear a little more about cast/characters – and continue to find little more than superficial happy talk.

The New Dads In Town: Mel and John goes for seven minutes, 37 seconds and features Lithgow, Gibson, Henchy, Ferrell and Anders. “Dads” replicates the same subjects and puffy tone of the other featurettes.

Finally, we get Captain Sully, a two-minute, 17-second piece with Anders and actor Chesley Sullenberger. It gives us a few thoughts about the movie’s guest star. We don’t learn anything, but we do get to see rough footage of an unused scene.

Six Deleted/Extended/Alternate Scenes run a total of 11 minutes, 17 seconds. Three of these – “Kurt’s Firewood” (0:29), “The Wise Man” (1:32) and “Yammering Don” (0:32) offer deleted clips, while “Cabelas” (3:58) and “Really Brad Advice” (3:57) are extended and “El Padre Stink Eye” (0:46) is alternate.

A little bit of character/story information appears here, but mostly these clips attempt comedy. They present a few minor laughs.

We conclude with a Gag Reel. It spans three minutes, 40 seconds and presents a fairly standard collection of goofs and giggles. Most of it seems forgettable, though a couple of funny moments occur.

Like the first film, Daddy’s Home 2 offers a messy mix of weak comedic bits and thin characters. Its cast adds some class but the movie fails to create real entertainment. The 4K UHD delivers excellent and audio as well as mediocre supplements. Home 2 sputters, but at least the 4K makes it look great.

To rate this film visit the prior review of DADDY'S HOME 2