The Family Plan 2 Review: Mark Wahlberg Wrecks the Halls in a Bah-Humbug Christmas Brawl

Michelle Monaghan and Kit Harington sprint through a Europe-set holiday caper that never catches fire, while Mark Wahlberg returns with a lump-of-coal family Christmas actioner.

Of all the potential Mark Wahlberg franchises, this is not the one I had on my bingo card. But here we are: The Family Plan 2 swings in right before the holidays, packs the Morgan clan off to Europe, and tries to turn a suburban dad spy comedy into a full-on Christmas chase movie. It looks pricey. It plays safe. And yeah, it basically reiterates the first one with a change of scenery.

The setup this time

We jump ahead two years. The Morgans are finishing up Thanksgiving and eyeing Christmas when Dan gets hit with two things at once: his estranged father, McCaffrey (Ciaran Hinds), dies in prison, and his own house is wobbling. Dan is building a security company, his son Kyle (Van Crosby) is stressing over college picks, and his daughter Nina (Zoe Colletti) is in London on a study abroad program and not exactly rushing home for the holidays. Meanwhile, Jessica (Michelle Monaghan) has a job offer that could uproot them from their low-drama base in Buffalo, New York.

Dan decides to fix morale with a family Christmas in London so they can all be together. That means meeting Nina's boyfriend, Omar (Reda Elazouar), and, because this is a sequel, bumping into someone from Dan's murky past. Enter Finn (Kit Harington).

The bad guy and the MacGuffin

Finn knows Dan from back when he was operating under his real name, Sean McCaffrey, and Finn is not sending a fruit basket. He wants revenge and is stepping into the crime business that Dan's father started. Finn snatches a conveniently vague item that supposedly opens the entire McCaffrey fortune. That puts a target on the Morgans and kicks off a run-through-London (and beyond) situation, with Omar dragged along for the chaos.

Between dodging Finn's goons and the local police, the family tries to squeeze in some 'holiday in Europe' time. Dan has to accept that Nina is an adult now, Kyle chafes at Dad's rules, and the youngest, Max, is frankly having a blast while everyone else bickers about strategy. The sequel keeps the action beats coming more consistently than the first movie, with the same light, jokey tone even when people are in real danger.

Secret's out, skills are in

The first film got comic mileage out of Dan hiding his past life. That cat is fully out of the bag now, so the gag this time is the whole family leveling up their skills to back him up. It can be cute watching the Morgans echo Dan's tricks, but after a while it turns into a gimmick on a loop.

What helps is the villain upgrade. Harington gives Finn some flare and finally lets Wahlberg bounce off someone who can snarl and scrap with him. There is also a standout supporting turn from Sidse Babett Knudsen as Svetlana, a former flame of Dan's who glides in and steals scenes. On the other hand, Omar mostly exists so Dan has someone new to scowl at and so the movie can wedge in parkour where needed. The ensemble is game across the board, just not enough to lift the material beyond serviceable.

Behind the camera, same team, bigger map

Director Simon Cellan Jones returns for his third ride with Wahlberg after the first Family Plan and 2024's Arthur the King. He makes the most of England and France to give this one more scope, but there is only so much he can do when the story keeps defaulting to familiar beats. Writer David Coggeshall also comes back and basically extends the same family dynamic from round one. People are somehow still shocked by fresh revelations about Dan's past, which gets silly. There are moments where the movie looks ready to zig where the first one zagged, but mostly it leans hard on the Christmas wrapping and replicates the template. You will clock most twists way in advance even if they land fine in the moment.

Fast facts

• Stars: Mark Wahlberg (Dan Morgan/Sean McCaffrey), Michelle Monaghan (Jessica), Zoe Colletti (Nina), Van Crosby (Kyle), Max the youngest kid, Kit Harington (Finn), Reda Elazouar (Omar), Sidse Babett Knudsen (Svetlana), Ciaran Hinds (McCaffrey, Dan's father)
• When/where: Set two years after the first film; London and France figure heavily
• Creative team: Directed by Simon Cellan Jones; written by David Coggeshall; Jones previously directed The Family Plan and Arthur the King (2024)
• Vibe check: Looks polished, plays generic; more action than the first but still pretty lightweight; jokes land often enough
• Release: November 21 on Apple TV
• Score: Solidly average — call it a 6

Bottom line

This is holiday background noise of the inoffensive variety. You will get a few chuckles if your bar is not sky-high, but the action rarely pops. Wahlberg benefits from having Harington to spar with; beyond that, it is an unnecessary sequel that never really justifies itself. If a third movie happens, it needs to actually shake things up instead of reheating the leftovers. Safe, familiar, and totally fine if you have nothing else to watch.