The biggest problem with "Family Plan" might have been the premise itself. Not just because of its familiarity, which has only grown more so since the film's release just two years ago. However, it was indeed familiar: a top-secret assassin starting a new life, being discovered by people from his old life, and having to protect himself and his family from this threat. The guy also had to do all this while trying to maintain his new identity and keep his family in the dark about his true identity.
The deception, of course, was intended as the prelude to a comedy written by screenwriter David Coggeshall. However, the jokes fell flat due to a number of factors, including director Simon Cellan Jones's frenetic pacing and Mark Wahlberg, who plays the secret assassin trying to lead a normal life, portraying the role without much humor. All these people and more return in "Family Plan 2," which is a slight improvement on its predecessor for an unexpected reason.
Director: Simon Cellan Jones
Writer: David Coggeshall
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Monaghan, Kit Harington
That's the essence of this family as a family. In retrospect, that quality seemed absent in the first film, because that was, in essence, the main premise. Dan Morgan (Wahlberg) had to lie about himself, his past, and much more to protect his wife Jessica (Michelle Monaghan) and their three children. Now that everyone has the same information and doesn't feel the need to hide something as important as a secret identity, these characters can connect and interact with each other without the artifice of a plot getting in the way.
This time around, it makes a significant difference, even if the plot itself obviously struggles to put Dan and his family in danger once again. Before that, we learn that Dan has leveraged the skills he developed growing up surrounded by all sorts of shady dealings and criminal behavior, becoming a private security consultant with his own business.
Meanwhile, Jessica finds her husband's talents very appealing, and they go on a date at a local hotel. Dan surprises her by scaling the side of the building to give her an expensive gift. Incidentally, this time she's the one keeping a secret, but a potentially good one. Jessica has been offered a teaching position at a university in Ohio, but that would mean leaving Buffalo, New York. She's not sure if Dan would be happy about it.
As for the kids, Nina (Zoe Colletti) is studying journalism in London. Kyle (Van Crosby) is still playing a lot of video games, and Max (Peter and Theodore Lindsey) is old enough to talk. It might not seem like much, but it's nice to reconnect with these characters in normal circumstances, without them feeling like they're being forced into the plot.
The plot does pick up, however, when Dan gets a job in London near Christmas, which means the whole family will be spending the holidays there. After the man who hired him reveals he has an ulterior motive, the family goes on a European vacation—a classic sequel trope.
The villain this time is Finn (Kit Harington), Dan's half-brother through their deceased father, who raised Dan to be an assassin and tried to wipe out his family in the first film. Finn wants to seize his father's criminal empire and get revenge on Dan for being his father's favorite or something like that. No one, especially the villain, in a film like this needs real, convincing, or even believable emotions, as long as the plot and action sequences keep moving forward.
They do need them, and they aren't as tense or irritating in the sequel for a reason: the lower expectations of the original film, the change of scenery, the fact that the other family members don't seem like mere plot devices, the feeling that the actors, in general, are having a good time (whether it's because of the material or the locations, one can imagine that a trip to London, Paris, and other places would make many things seem fun in that context). The action, unfortunately, remains fairly routine, although Jones has slowed the pace a bit when editing those scenes. Jokes are also plentiful, ranging from Dan's dislike of his daughter's new boyfriend, Omar (Red Elazouar), to the fact that one of the ex-assassin's old acquaintances (played by Sidse Babett Knudsen) is a cat lover.
In other words, Family Plan 2 still isn't a particularly thrilling or funny action comedy. However, it's an improvement and finds a more consistent and heartwarming tone for the material. Given that we can probably expect more sequels, this suggests a step in the right direction.
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