Debuting on Prime Video this week, “Another Simple Favor” honors its predecessor in more ways than one.

For starters, the sequel to director Paul Feig’s 2018 black comedy mystery is peppered with self-aware references to how ridiculous it is that Anna Kendrick’s mom vlogger Stephanie Smothers and Blake Lively’s scheming and murderous Emily Nelson are spending time together again. (At one point early on, Emily tells Stephanie to just go with it, which a viewer also must do.)

And then there’s the fact that, like “A Simple Favor,” “Another” largely falls apart down the stretch after a promising-enough first half or so.

However, like the first effort, this second “Simple Favor” — written by Laeta Kalogridis (“Shutter Island”) and the returning Jessica Sharzer — is more entertaining than not, thanks largely to the performance of Kendrick, who does the sweet-and-quirky thing really well. Lively, too, is fun — at least when she’s channeling Emily’s sexy-and-sinister side, the actor proving to be less successful when she’s asked to do a more sincere spin on the duplicitous felon later in the affair.

If you need a refresher, the meek Stephanie and the much slicker Emily became friends in the first “Favor” thanks to their sons being in school together. Emily taught Stephanie not to apologize for everything and unearthed a dark (and dirty) secret she’d been keeping. Soon, Emily disappeared and was found dead, with Stephanie and Emily’s handsome writer husband, Sean (Henry Golding), quickly acting on their mutual attraction. Ah, but it turned out Emily had faked her death for a $4 million insurance payout by murdering her twin sister, and, yada yada yada, she went to prison, with Stephanie and Sean going their separate ways.

“Another” begins with Stephanie live streaming while under house arrest on the beautiful island of Capri, off the coast of Italy.

“I want to be clear: I did not kill Emily’s husband,” she states.

We then go back in time, to Emily — out of prison, at least for the time being — showing up to surprise Stephanie at a reading of her recently released book about solving the aforementioned mystery. The sly Emily’s not out for revenge against Stephanie — mostly, kinda, probably — but if the latter doesn’t agree to be her maid of honor when she marries a mystery man on Capri, she’ll sue her over the book. Plus, you know, it will be fun!

(Does anything scream “sequel!” quite like a plot built around a destination wedding?)

“Another Simple Favor” boasts plenty of moving pieces, with Emily set to marry the suave Dante Versano (Michele Morrone), a high-ranking member of an Italian crime family at odds with another, and Dante’s powerful mother, Portia (Elena Sofia Ricci), vehemently opposed to the union. Also along for the ride is Sean with his and Emily’s son, Nicky (Ian Ho); as Sean angrily day drinks, Nicky busies himself with a drone that we know will play into the proceedings before they conclude.

And Portia has an unpleasant surprise for Emily: She has invited the latter’s mother, Margaret — “Hello, Mother, you look different,” Emily says to Margaret (Elizabeth Perkins, replacing Jean Smart from the first film) — who has arrived with Emily’s aunt, Linda (Allison Janney).

Soon, a person is killed, and the local police are content to chalk it up to an accident, despite Stephanie’s well-founded objections, as they appear to be in league with the Versanos. That makes it all the more frustrating when they pin Dante’s murder on her, with Emily’s ultimate plan now (cough) seemingly clear.

With apologies to its appealing supporting cast, “Another Simple Favor” is best when it’s just Stephanie and Emily, which allows Kendrick and Lively to cook, such as Emily’s two-person bachelorette party, in a rented-out pool and complete with stiff martinis. The pairing is less successful in the film’s third act, but we’ll steer clear of those details.

As with the first entry, “Another Simple Favor” doesn’t fit all the strengths of Feig (“Freaks and Geeks,” “Bridesmaids”), but the director keeps things moving along swiftly enough.

Keeping with the not-much-has-changed theme, this film, too, is surprisingly zesty in the occasional spot, but, as a black comedy, it would benefit from a lot more zest.

Shot largely on location in Italy, “Another Simple Favor” is, if nothing else, an exquisite slice of Capri porn. It may not be what 2018’s “Crazy Rich Asians” — also featuring Golding — did for Singapore, but it’s in the you’d-die-to-visit ballpark.

And, at the end of the convoluted day, the film is better than you may expect from a straight-to-streaming sequel.

That said, we’ll see if it does well enough to justify the third “Simple Favor” that its last few minutes seem intent on setting up.

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‘ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOR’

2.5 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for violence, sexual content, nudity, language throughout, and suicide)

Running time: 2:00

How to watch: On Prime Video May 1

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