‘Hot Tub Time Machine 2’ Red Band Trailer: Everything’s Like ‘The Terminator’

By  · Published on July 25th, 2014

Paramount Pictures/MGM

Nobody will ever have the balls to remake Back to the Future or The Terminator. They are the untouchable time travel classics. And without them we couldn’t have a movie like Hot Tub Time Machine, which paid it all back in homage in ways that wouldn’t make a lot of sense for people unfamiliar with those earlier cultural staples (and who’d just be confused now if there were multiples of them). Not a whole lot about the 2010 comedy mirrors BTTF, yet the ending has a similar, albeit more extreme, case of the present being altered for the better thanks to changes made via a trip to the past. The movie concludes with a brilliant joke: Rob Corddry’s character has used his knowledge of the future (present) to invent Google before Google (he calls it “Lou-gle”).

Sorry to spoil that for anyone who hasn’t seen the first HTTM already, but them’s the breaks when sequels happen – they tend to lead off from the ending of the original.

It’s like The Terminator. You can’t not know how it ends if you know anything about Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Of course, back then you had seven years to catch up. This time you only have only four, as Hot Tub Time Machine 2 hits theaters this Christmas. The sequel continues to follow in the footsteps of the BTTF series. Back to the Future Part II didn’t need to happen, but it did happen, and it also kind of elaborated on a joke that concluded the original. And also like BTTF2, HTTM2 changes direction to go forward in time. However, judging by the first red band trailer, out of Comic-Con, HTTM2 still follows in its own franchise footsteps, too, by featuring a lot of humorous cursing and a lot of boobs.

Watch the NSFW spot below.

You will notice that John Cusack is missing (even from the recap!). That’ll probably be explained, character-wise, in the movie. Or maybe not, since the HTTM world is so damn ridiculous. There’s also no explanation of Adam Scott’s role as a sort of Cusack replacement. He doesn’t seem to be a native of the future, though, so I assume he’s the guy in the bear suit we see briefly during the hot tub time traveling. What we do see is continued alternate reality situations, like Fringe, as Clark Duke tells us (nerd). Corddry’s character is sort of like Biff Tannen but if we were supposed to be on Biff Tannen’s side. And we’re getting the equivalent of alternate 1985 in the form of alternate present and alternate future.

Wait, are you confused? Whatever, these movies are supposed to mess with our heads. Like The Terminator. Let’s just hope that Hot Tub Time Machine 3 is consistent and set in the Wild West. Or at least the American Revolution. Damn them if the end of HTTM2 is spoiled by that bit with Corddry wearing a rebel uniform.

I guess I should mention Craig Robinson, especially since he’s my main draw for these movies. The Natalie Imbruglia thing is pretty funny.

Christopher Campbell began writing film criticism and covering film festivals for a zine called Read, back when a zine could actually get you Sundance press credentials. He's now a Senior Editor at FSR and the founding editor of our sister site Nonfics. He also regularly contributes to Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes and is the President of the Critics Choice Association's Documentary Branch.