Box Office Thanksgiving Battlefield: Horrible Bosses 2, Penguins of Madagascar, and The Imitation Game

The weekend warriors of Thanksgiving Weekend 2014 includes Horrible Bosses 2, Penguins of Madagascar, The Imitation Game, and The Babadook. Every week, movie studios select candidates to enter the glorious battlefield for your hard-earned dollars, Box Office Battlefield is here to help you decide which movie(s) will take priority over the others and determine who will be victorious.

Last weekend, Mockingjay – Part 1 overran theaters to dominate the box office. But this weekend it has three big contenders to fend off against this long holiday weekend. Will Katniss keep the fire burning? Let us show you the 50 states. This is the Box Office Battlefield:

Horrible Bosses 2 (Sean Anders) Rated R [108 min] – Dale, Kurt and Nick decide to start their own business but things don’t go as planned because of a slick investor, prompting the trio to pull off a harebrained and misguided kidnapping scheme. Starring Jennifer Aniston, Chris Pine, Christoph Waltz, Jason Sudeikis, Jamie Foxx, Chris Pine, and Kevin Spacey

Rotten Tomatoes Score: Critics – 36% • Audience – 65%

What they’re saying:

“Make no mistake, despite some well-earned laughs, “Horrible Bosses 2″ is not what qualifies as a good movie or even a particularly good R-rated comedy.” – Betsy Sharkey (LA Times)

“Belongs to that rare collection of comedy sequels that are as good, if not slightly better, than their successful predecessors.” – Sean O’Connell (CinemaBlend)

What I’m saying:

The first Horrible Bosses is highly unmemorable. There are just a handful of jokes that stand out, and this wanna be Hangover franchise doesn’t feel like anything special. I like all the actors involved except Jason Sudeikis, but the plot of these films are so thin that they’re hard to enjoy once you see past the comedy. There’s not much there. RENT IT!

Penguins of Madagascar (Eric Darnell and Simon J. Smith) Rated PG [92 min] – Discover the secrets of the greatest and most hilarious covert birds in the global espionage biz: Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private. These elitists of the elite are joining forces with a chic undercover organization, The North Wind. Led by handsome and husky Agent Classified (we could tell you his name, but then…you know). Together, they must stop the villainous Dr. Octavius Brine, from destroying the world as we know it. Starring Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights, and Benedict Cumberbatch

Rotten Tomatoes Score: Critics – 68% • Audience – 80%

What they’re saying:

“It is not so much “bad” as it is stunningly indifferent to providing anything beyond occasional surface-level entertainment value.” – Scott Mendelson (Forbes)

“The unfunny, unmoving, and uninspired Penguins never persuades us of its need to exist.” – Inkoo Kang (The Wrap)

What I’m saying:

This movie is not for me. Penguins is definitely for the younger audiences that will eat up the low-brow comedy DreamWorks is infamous for. The animation doens’t look great and the secret agent spy gimmick will only take the film so far until it feels tired. WAIT FOR IT ON NETFLIX!

The Imitation Game (Morten Tyldum) [Limited] Rated PG-13 [114 min] – English mathematician and logician, Alan Turing, helps crack the Enigma code during World War II. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Mark Strong

Rotten Tomatoes Score: Critics – 86% • Audience – 94%

What they’re saying:

“Streamlines a fascinating true story into functional prestige filmmaking, but it’s still plenty engaging, thanks largely to its lead.” – A.A. Dowd (AV Club)

“Headhunters director Morten Tyldum and Benedict Cumberbatch, at the top of his game, forge the definitive account of Turing’s life.” – Matt Patches (IGN Movies)

What I’m saying:

From what I’ve gathered, The Imitation Game is your standard period piece with a ton of great performances. I’ve heard there is little emphasis on his machine and the process, which is a shame. When you have a film that is dedicated to something as revolutionary as the Turing Machine, you’d want to know how it works right? Pure Oscar bait? Sure, but it would be worth checking out for Knightley and the Batch. MATINEE IT!

The Babadook (Jennifer Kent) [Limited] Not Rated [93 min] – A single mother, plagued by the violent death of her husband, battles with her son’s fear of a monster lurking in the house, but soon discovers a sinister presence all around her. Starring Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall, and Hayley McElhinney

Rotten Tomatoes Score: Critics – 98% • Audience – 74%

What I’m saying:

I don’t see what the big fuss is about this movie. As a horror fan, I appreciate the subtleties and care The Babadook takes to build its atmospheric tension, but the performances and story are only surface level. I wasn’t very shocked or taken by anything that happened in the film and was not impressed by the concept at all. It may be one of the best horror movies of the year, but that isn’t saying much because there haven’t been any good ones, especially this. WAIT FOR IT ON NETFLIX!

Although there are two decent sized movies out this weekend, I don’t think either have a strong following that will warrant the downfall of The Hunger Games. Mockingjay has a lot of strong buzz still that will carry over to this weekend for those who did not want to join the crazies last weekend. Horrible Bosses is for the adults and has some laughs, but that R rating alienates younger audiences. And then Penguins is so skewed toward a younger demographic that it will discourage teens and adults to go see it. So as it stands, I believe the victor for this weekend shall be: