THE BOSS BABY: Family Business

*CUT TO THE CHASE*

NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy

As an adult, Tim Templeton (James Marsden) has not lost his active imagination. Now a family man married to breadwinner Carol (Eva Longoria) and father to Tabitha (Arianna Greenblatt) and Tina (Amy Sedaris), he indulges in many playful activities. Tim also lets us know that, from the old baby gang, Jimbo and Stacey are married, with Jimbo being mayor but Stacey being the brains between them, and the triplets are now all cops. Tim’s brother Ted (Alec Baldwin) is a successful hedge fund manager that the girls look up to more than they do Tim, and part of this has driven a wedge between the two brothers. Ted doesn’t always show up for Tim, so he spoils his nieces with lavish gifts, including a pony named Precious that seems to hate Tim.

Tabitha has been accepted into The Acorn Center, a prestigious school for gifted kids like her. She gets deep into her studies, to the point where it looks like she is ignoring Tim. When he tries to kiss her goodnight, she instead sticks her arm out for a handshake, saying she is too old for goodnight kisses. Tim feels bad, especially when Tabitha tells a picture of Ted that she hopes to be a success like him one day.

Tim goes to the attic where he comes across his old childhood toys. The old alarm clock Wizzy (James McGrath) is now missing an arm and is mad about Tim storing him away and forgetting about him. Tim laments to Wizzy that he feels Tabitha is drifting away from him. He then hears noise coming from Tina’s room. To his surprise, she is also a Boss Baby sent from BabyCorp for an important mission. However, Tina wants Ted to come for help, but Tim refuses to get him involved. Tina then spots a doll that records voices and gets an idea.

Ted arrives at Tim’s home in a chopper, under the impression that Tabitha fell off Precious and injured herself, but that was just Tina forging a voicemail from Tim. After the rest of the family fawns over Ted, with Tabitha giving him a kiss hello to Tim’s dismay, Tim calls Ted into the kitchen for a private discussion. As Tim tries to explain things about Tina to Ted, they only argue because Ted doesn’t remember anything about his time as a Boss Baby. Tina then breaks out the magic pacifiers and takes her dad and uncle on a trip.

The three are sent to BabyCorp, where all the memories come flooding back to Ted. He even has a gold statue dedicated to him, as he is believed to have single-handedly saved the company. Tina takes the brothers to a room where they learn about the mission. BabyCorp suspects something is going down at The Acorn Center, with the school’s founder, Dr. Erwin Armstrong (Jeff Goldblum), apparently planning something involving the children at the school. Tim knows that Tabitha may be involved and realizes this is why she is overworking herself and missing out on her childhood. When the three return home, Tina gives Tim and Ted a formula that will transform them back to their younger selves for 48 hours so that they can pose as students at The Acorn Center and plant bugs in Armstrong’s office. The brothers argue again as they begin to de-age to their selves from the last movie. When Carol and Tabitha come back from an errand, Tim has to cover up their transformation by saying he and Ted are going on a brotherly bonding trip, but Carol reminds Tim to be back for his parents’ arrival, as well as for Tabitha’s winter pageant performance.

That night, Tim has a nightmare that he is on trial for being a bad father, with everyone in his family, including parents Ted Sr (Jimmy Kimmel) and Janice (Lisa Kudrow), are criticizing him while Tabitha slips away from him. When he wakes up, he realizes he and Ted are late for their first day at The Acorn Center. They slip into their old sailor outfits but miss the bus. They end up having to ride Precious through the streets, where they cause a lot of damage, like destroying a Christmas tree, all while Carol is taking the girls to school, and Tina can see her dad and uncle nearby involved in the chaos.

The brothers make it to school, with Ted having to go with the babies and Tim ends up in Tabitha’s class, posing under the name Marcos Lightspeed. The two set up a time for when they will infiltrate Armstrong’s office and plant the bug. A projection of Armstrong teaches Tabitha’s class, where she is the top student but faces competition from snotty kid Nathan and his cronie Meghan. When the time comes for the brothers to act, Ted manages to escape the class using glue to climb the walls, but Tim gets put in time-out inside “The Box”, which terrifies the other kids. Ted makes it to Armstrong’s office and is surprised to see that Armstrong was expecting him. It turns out that Armstrong is a super-smart baby posing as an adult using a robotic suit. He saw himself as too smart to be tied down by his parents, so he abandoned them and went off to establish The Acorn Center to breed young geniuses like himself, and he thinks Ted would make a viable partner in his conquests. After Ted has a run-in with some baby ninjas, Armstrong gives Ted a tour of the facility and discusses a plan in which he will eliminate the need for parents once and for all, with a new app that he is having the children work on.

After school, Tim convinces an unsuspecting Carol to let him ride with the girls back home for supper (with Tina being annoyed at her dad for potentially compromising the mission), while Ted goes back with Precious, who is buried under kids after Tim brings attention to her as payback for her being a jerk. At home, Tim tries to hide old childhood pics of him so they won’t recognize him in his current child form. Tim talks to Tabitha about her relationship with her dad, and she expresses that she is not embarrassed by him, but that she feels she can’t live up to the same creative standards that he set. Ted Sr and Janice show up and immediately notice that “Marcos” looks like Tim. They also bring up “Tim time” when Tabitha worries he won’t show up for the pageant, which they explain as Tim going off in his own world to get away from reality. The elder Templetons also mention how much closer Tim and Ted used to be, which the hidden Ted overhears.

Tim helps Tabitha practice for the pageant, but Tabitha is too nervous and sings off-key. Tim inspires her to see things from his perspective, doing a performance of “If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out” and showing her how to fulfill her potential. He then “leaves” but sneaks back into the house.

Tim later rejoins Ted and Tina, where Ted says that BabyCorp will continue to handle the mission, so the brothers can return to normal and carry on with their lives. Tina, seeing that the two haven’t reconnected the way she was hoping, pretends that BabyCorp is calling and saying they won’t help, which prompts Tim and Ted to finish the job themselves.

The plan is set to take effect during the winter pageant. Ted watches with Armstrong while Tim’s family waits for him. Ted realizes that Armstrong’s app will turn the parents into zombies since they are recording the pageant using it, and his plan will take effect. Ted tries to shut down the show, but Tim tries to stop him from ruining Tabitha’s performance. The brothers argue again, bringing up how they stopped being there for each other as they got older. Armstrong catches them and throws them in The Box. Tabitha goes up and performs, but because the app has already hypnotized the parents, nobody really paid attention, so she runs away crying. Armstrong and his babies then rise from the stage on a giant cake, with a countdown taking effect for when the app will take effect worlwide.

Tim and Ted apologize to each other for their behavior, and they are saved when they both whistle for Precious to break them out before they drown inside The Box. Meanwhile, Tina talks to Tabitha for the first time and tells her that all the stories their dad told them were all true. The sisters band together to help their dad and uncle. Tim and Ted ride Precious to the giant acorn that is releasing the signal to the app, while Tabitha and Tina hijack one of Armstrong’s bodysuits as the zombie parents begin to close in on them. When pulling the fire alarm to short circuit the acorn, it doesn’t work, so Tabitha and Tina duke it out with Armstrong until they see candy and soda (the things filling his bodysuit) fall out, so they put Diet Coke and Mentos together to create an explosion that floods the acorn and stops the ad. Tabitha falls, but Tim and Ted return to their adult forms in time to rescue her, and Tabitha gives her dad a thank-you kiss on the cheek. A defeated Armstrong then watches the Templeton family reunite lovingly, with Carol and the elder Templetons finding Tim and Ted with the girls. Tina then tells the brothers that her plan all along was to have them reunite, with taking down Armstrong just being a bonus.

Sometime later on Christmas Day, the whole family is together at Tim’s house except for Ted. Tim goes outside to find a pile of presents, plus a giant golden statue from Ted of Tim when he was a child, holding a mug that says “world’s best dad”. Ted then surprises Tim with a snowball fight, which Tabitha and Tina join in on.

The film ends with Armstrong deciding to return to being a regular child and being embraced by his parents again.

Tim and Ted Templeton are now adults that have drifted apart, with Tim being married to Carol and father to Tabitha and Tina, while Ted is as much of a cutthroat CEO as he was when he was a Boss Baby. To Tim's dismay, the girls seem to look up to Ted more since he is successful, especially Tabitha, who is a studious kid that doesn't respond to Tim's active imagination anymore.

The brothers are brought back together when they discover that Tina is also a Boss Baby sent from BabyCorp. The Acorn Center - Tabitha's school - is planning something sinister involving its students, so Tim and Ted drink a formula that reverts them back to their childhood forms so they can infiltrate the school and bring down its founder, Dr. Erwin Armstrong. While there, Ted discovers that Armstrong is a genius baby who abandoned his parents because he felt he was too smart for them. His plan is to use his army of genius babies to create an app that will turn parents into mindless zombies while Armstrong starts a revolution.

The brothers plan to take Armstrong down at the school's winter pageant where Tabitha is performing. Tim and Ted hit a setback but are rescued by the family's pony, Precious. Tina talks to Tabitha and recruits her to help their dad and uncle. Together, the four Templetons defeat Armstrong and short-circuit the signal to his app, freeing the parents from their hold as Tim and Ted turn back to normal, now having become closer as brothers than ever before, and Tabitha having a newfound respect for Tim.

Armstrong abandons his plans for world domination and returns to his normal life with his parents.