The Family Plan 2 is a movie I didn’t think would work. On paper, the surprise of Dan’s assassin past in the first film was half of the humor as it crashed into his family life. But now, his family knows about his past, so it couldn’t possibly work again. Well, The Family Plan 2 does work, and surprisingly, it’s even better than the first.
In the original film, Dan Morgan (Mark Wahlberg) is an ex-assassin who works as a car salesman, who lives quietly in the Buffalo suburbs with his wife Jessica (Michelle Monaghan) and their three kids: teens Nina and Kyle, and infant Max. Dan is content with his low-key life and dislikes violence, tech, and social media.
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When Dan shows up on social media, old enemies come out of the woodwork and throw his family into danger. But in that danger, his family rises to the challenge, and if anything, his wife Jessica is a bit too into it.
Written and directed by David Coggeshall, The Family Plan 2 shows what happens when the family is chased again, but this time, they’re almost prepared to deal with it. Now, in The Family Plan 2, Dan has stopped selling cars and started a security firm; Kyle and Max are older; Jessica is a track coach; and Nina, well, she’s at university in London.
A family vacation turns into a run from the law and a crazy brother in The Family Plan 2.
Where we pick up with the Morgans, they’re doing just fine. Only, instead of having a Morgan Family Christmas, Nina is set to spend her first Christmas at university alone, until Dan surprises his family with a trip to London. With everything in place, they head across the pond, surprise Nina, and meet her boyfriend, Omar (Reda Elazouar).
But it’s not just a family vacation when Dan takes a job from a local bank to test their security system. Only the guy who hired him, Finn Clark (Kit Harington), isn’t the bank’s manager. Instead, Finn is actually Dan’s brother, and he’s seeking revenge, once again putting Dan’s family deep into harm’s way.
The comedy in The Family Plan 2 remains the core around which the action is built. From one-liners to family mishaps, it all works. More importantly, though, the Morgans are pretty prepared for every situation that Finn throws their way. Instead of running or being sitting ducks, the Morgans work to stop Finn before he uses their father’s money for evil.
At the end of the first film, Dan’s father dies. A big, bad criminal, it’s just something that Dan has come to expect, was necessary for his family to survive the encounter. But that death has ripples across multiple lives. McCaffrey built an empire, which means someone has to inherit it. And that’s ultimately what the premise of The Family Plan 2 comes down to.
Stop Finn, finish the vacation, and well, get Dan Morgan’s name cleared. Because, of course, the entirety of England believes that Dan robbed the bank, which he did, and the entire Morgan family has to decide to clear their name or choose to live on the run forever.
The Family Plan 2 is just a good holiday movie. Sure, the melodramatic family chaos between Dan and finn is a bit much, but the action and humor make something entirely special. The individual personalities for each of the characters make a cohesive family unit, using their disagreements and miscommunications as excellent narrative development, with action and comedy grounding it all.
The Morgans are back in Apple TV’s The Family Plan 2, and now they’re in a holiday movie.
In one layer, the film zooms in on situational humor that comes from your father meeting your boyfriend for the first time. In another, Nina’s pending job offer to move the family from Buffalo, a city Dan loves, creates miscommunication and drama, reminding the audience that, while this is an action situation, they’re still a family.
Additionally, the physical comedy on display throughout the fight sequences keeps the film’s action grounded in classic genre tropes, especially in the final act. How everything comes together is what makes The Family Plan 2 an even better watch than the first film.
The fact that the Morgans have been through this situation once before (with everyone trying to kill them), their resourcefulness gives the audience people to cheer for, not because they can’t survive, but because you just enjoy seeing how they do.
The Family Plan 2 is an excellent balance of action and humor.
In all of that, though, it’s clear that Jessica, Nina, Kyle, and Max are still just civilians. Sure, they know to destroy their phones, fight back a bit, and, in Kyle’s case, hack things, but they still aren’t experts. The know-how they bring to their situation is practical, not professional, and that makes them all individually endeavoring.
Add in the fact that the Morgans have Nina’s boyfriend with them, and the chemistry between the ensemble cast works exceptionally well. Every time they cheer as a family, Omar is right there. The tension between dad and the daughter’s boyfriend may be played up a little too much at points; however, Omar’s lack of complaints and go-with-the-flow attitude make it all worth it.
The Family Plan 2 has some awkward pacing, and not every family member is used to the fullest, but ultimately it works far more often than it doesn’t. This is an action comedy film, but on top of that, it never loses the holiday movie aesthetic either. From top to bottom, this is a Christmas movie, and that actually makes it better.
To break it down, I am all in on the Morgans. The Family Plan 2 is the right kind of direct-to-streaming fun that makes your Friday exciting, and ultimately, its holiday flair makes it even more perfect for the season. Each character finds their action moments, and their comedic highs, and that’s what seals this movie as an immediate addition to your watchlist.
The Family Plan 2 is streaming now on Apple TV.
Read our review of The Family Plan.
The Family Plan 2
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Rating - 7/107/10
TL;DR
The Family Plan 2 is the right kind of direct-to-streaming fun that makes your Friday exciting, and ultimately, its holiday flair makes it even more perfect for the season.
