Horrible Bosses box office takings proved that the American Dream has very little to do with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and everything to do with killing your boss.

And now the inevitable sequel has arrived to give audiences more of the same.

Horrible Bosses 2 picks up with our central trio, Nick, Kurt and Dale, now on the verge of going into business themselves and taking the enviable step of becoming their own boss.

They have designed a new, automated shower accessory which helps the user save time cleaning themselves. It makes better sense visually, trust me.

All they need is a wealthy and supportive backer.

Enter Christoph Waltz as Burt Hanson, a ruthless investor, with his odious son Rex (Chris Pine) by his side. The Hansons initially appear to be ideal business partners for our heroes, pointing them in the right direction to raise start-up capital whilst simultaneously commissioning a generous initial order.

However, it wouldn’t be much of a movie if all went to plan for our guys.

It isn’t long before the Hansons have reneged on their deal and the guys are faced with the prospect of losing their business before they even get it properly started.

The guys need to come up with cash fast. Quickly circumventing all logical solutions, they decide to kidnap Rex and use the ransom from his father to repay their start-up loan, avoid foreclosure and save their business in the process.

Suffice to say, the guys realise they need some criminal guidance in this endeavour and return to their old friend, Motherfucker Jones (Jamie Foxx) for advice.

Along the way, the trio are also helped and hindered by returning faces Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Aniston as David and Julia.

After a slow start, peppered with low-hanging sex gags and racial slurs, the film admittedly picks up the pace and the general premise of underdogs triumphing against the odds, combined with higher star wattage than your average comedy, proves a winning formula once more. A whizzy kidnap-planning sequence is particularly enjoyable.

True, the misogyny and non-pc humour abounds but no more or less from the first film, so fans should be undeterred.

Newcomers Chris Pine and Christoph Waltz, have lots of fun with their roles, whilst Breaking Bad favourite Jonathan Banks pop up as a weary detective. Aniston has particular fun reprising the sex addict role, this time in attempted-rehab mode. And failing miserably at it.

But ultimately, everything here rests on the chemistry between the three leads. Bateman is the straight man, Sudeikis is the passive-aggressive middle man, and Day is the idiot-savant.

Everything from The Three Stooges to The Hangover has taught us that three is better than two when it comes to buddy comedies and, should belly laughs and box office takings dictate, a third outing with the likes of Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day is not the worst prospect in the world.

Connor Brennan