I just KNEW when I turned this movie on that I was going to have an attitude. It didn’t help that I read somewhere that Taraji told some publication that they filmed the movie in four days. That’s never good with Tyler Perry. I get it. You want to save money and all, but production matters. (Says the former television production person.)
Anywho, this is the third installment in the “Why Did I Get Married?” franchise and this time, there are kids! And they’re all grown up. Mike isn’t but that’s to be expected. Janet’s character, Patricia, was not in the film for a couple reasons. One, Janet didn’t want to revisit the role because it was a role she revisited when her brother, you know Michael Jackson, died. Understandable. Also, with what happened with her and Gavin….what was there to come back for? With that being said, enter Taraji P. Henson as Roslyn, and she was great. We’ll get to her in a few.
As usual, I’m going to start with the bad so I can end with the good, and there is a lot of good.
There was a lot of confusion for me at the beginning of the movie. Here’s why. Marcus and Angela are talking over the dinner table that’s being prepared for when everyone arrives. In this scene, they are just gushing about how long it’s been since they’ve seen everyone. They do a montage of what everyone is doing currently before arriving at Marcus and Angela’s. Terry and Diane are in a plane, for some reason. Not explained and I don’t like having questions that aren’t answered. And, no, it’s not enough to say, “I wanted to be spontaneous.” I believe that was Terry’s answer to being in the plane. Plane didn’t make sense. Just be at home packing, please. Troy and Shelia confused me because, for a brief moment, I thought something was wrong with Shelia, Fast forward in the movie, and she reveals that her mom is suffering from dementia. That’s so sad….until you realize we’ve never known about this woman. She just mentioned her in this movie. It’s sad that her mom has dementia.,…but as a person who’s watched every one of these movies…I did not care…at all. Moving on to Marcus and Angela. You know, when I watch these movies, I’m always reminded that Tasha and Mike dated in real life. It’s always so cute and funny to me. They are the same. She’s yelling, and he’s apologizing. They introduced Roslyn as very stoic in her opening scene in the airport. I thought she was going to be an asshole. I’m glad I was wrong.
Something else that confused me was the introduction of the kids. I feel like instead of a montage of the parents doing stuff there could have been some interactions between the parents and their kids BEFORE we saw them altogether.
Mike…mike, man. I love Mike as the comic relief. The ridiculousness of him is always a win for me. Although, it annoyed me that at no point did someone just say, “Hey, MJ and her used to date.” Imagine when MJ walked up to them and then stormed away. When Mike goes, “He came over here and thought he had a chance and then realized that she’s with me,” someone could have said, “He’s already snagged that” or “You late, Uncle Mike.”Imagine the tension with that the entire trip. We also never resolved that. Irritating.
I was recently watching my favorite nerd podcasters, New Rockstars, and on their “Road to Doomsday,” they talked about “Thunderbolts.” (Stay with me.) Erik talked about how he doesn’t like when movies end in a group hug like “Thunderbolts” did. Imagine my surprise when this movie ended THE EXACT SAME WAY. You know what would have been better? Remember in the second movie when Louis Gossett Jr. and Cicely Tyson were that cute old couple that talked to them on the beach? I would have loved if they came together like that. Would have felt less like a round table of here’s what we all did wrong.
Here’s what I loved. Roslyn as the newest edition to the group fit right in. She’s an excellent because if I talked to my mom like he did her, I wouldn’t be typing this review. I love her energy. I loved her young man and their introduction of life after divorce with a grown child and keeping that parent on a pedestal. THAT was great!
The production was PHENOMENAL, and you all have seen a Tyler Perry production when it wasn’t. We ALL have a story…or maybe several. LOL. It was great. I didn’t have a complaint about sound or weird angles. Surprisingly, there wasn’t too much rambling or unscripted-seeming things, for my point of view.
All in all, I would watch this again. Much like I have the others. It fit right in. No major issues. What did y’all think?
