The Gang heads off to their annual marriage retreat, while they battle old demons. Terry and Diane are seemingly fine on the outside, but Dianne is mysteriously dressing up and doing different things. Tasha and Marcus are up to their same old antics, bickering like crazy. Tasha is convinced Marcus is cheating at work because he won't give her the pass to his cellphone. Sheila and Troy are having financial issues. Troy is too prideful to let Sheila help him, which makes Sheila tempted to reconnect with an uninvited guest, Mike. Troy gets very jealous over Mike wanting Sheila back. Meanwhile, Gavin and Patricia remain cold and distant with each other.
I tend to ramble in my reviews and I don't know when to stop sometimes. This review is gonna be all over the place, but what else is new? This sequel was completely unnecessary in almost every way! That being said, I really had a good time with it at the same time. Tyler Perry has taken the melodrama up a notch or two, filling it with OTT, but intense drama. The relationships were still rocky, but semi-fixed at the end of the first one, leaving things firmly established. Making a sequel was a risky thing to do, but Tyler did very well with it for the most part. Tyler has a penchant for being overly preachy, but keeps it to a minimum here. It's an entertaining, at times, harrowing look at marriage. It's also a good look at relationships in general. Perry manages to effectively combine humor and drama and succeed most of the time. I did have a few issues with this movie, so I'll get to that. The dialog gets a little clichéd at times. I can't count how many times I heard "Girl" when one of the female characters spoke. I also disliked Sheila and Troy's issues. It felt rather contrived to me, and turned out somewhat inconsequential in the end. Lamman Rucker (Troy) and Jill Scott (Sheila) are both very good in their roles, though. There are four major story lines and it's difficult to give them the same amount of time to develop. Tyler tries his hardest, but he can't quite pull it off. It's especially noticeable with Gavin and Patricia's storyline. I was really into their problems and they didn't really focus on them a lot until the second half. Their storyline really hit home to me. It was powerful and riveting stuff. The scene where Gavin gets drunk and acts crazy towards Patricia was memorable. The conclusion to their storyline was very heartbreaking. Malik Yoba gives quite a performance as the disheartened husband. Janet Jackson is efficient for the most part. Angela and Marcus steal the show on many occasions with their hilarious arguing. Obviously Tyler knew this and made a show around them. (For Better or Worse) Things get really silly at times, though. (Angela starts firing a gun in their bedroom when she thinks Marcus is sleeping with another woman!) Tasha Smith's actions are insane and deplorable, but I couldn't help but crack up her antics. Michael Jai White continues to prove he's not just another action star with his flamboyant showcase. The least effective storyline is between Terry and Dianne. Their problems are effective, but a bit too subtle at times. it was realistic and entertaining, though. Tyler Perry is his usual solid self. Sharon Leal is good as well. Richard T. Jones has more depth to his character this time. He's not just a slime ball anymore. He's still a smug jerk, but surprisingly vulnerable too. His character had an interesting spin on it. The Rock shows up at the end and has an awesome cameo! I literally clapped at his appearance.
These movies reminded me why I don't wanna get married. People forget why they fall in love and the romance seems to stop. Marriage is something that is supposed to be for good. Too many people take advantage of it. Some marriages are just not fixable. This is a very entertaining sequel, all issues aside. Tyler Perry is an underrated talent and there aren't too many of his movies that I dislike. His haters are moronic and don't give his movies the credit they deserve. His heart and his passion is clearly evident and I appreciate that. If you liked the first, you'll enjoy this one!
7.3/10
I tend to ramble in my reviews and I don't know when to stop sometimes. This review is gonna be all over the place, but what else is new? This sequel was completely unnecessary in almost every way! That being said, I really had a good time with it at the same time. Tyler Perry has taken the melodrama up a notch or two, filling it with OTT, but intense drama. The relationships were still rocky, but semi-fixed at the end of the first one, leaving things firmly established. Making a sequel was a risky thing to do, but Tyler did very well with it for the most part. Tyler has a penchant for being overly preachy, but keeps it to a minimum here. It's an entertaining, at times, harrowing look at marriage. It's also a good look at relationships in general. Perry manages to effectively combine humor and drama and succeed most of the time. I did have a few issues with this movie, so I'll get to that. The dialog gets a little clichéd at times. I can't count how many times I heard "Girl" when one of the female characters spoke. I also disliked Sheila and Troy's issues. It felt rather contrived to me, and turned out somewhat inconsequential in the end. Lamman Rucker (Troy) and Jill Scott (Sheila) are both very good in their roles, though. There are four major story lines and it's difficult to give them the same amount of time to develop. Tyler tries his hardest, but he can't quite pull it off. It's especially noticeable with Gavin and Patricia's storyline. I was really into their problems and they didn't really focus on them a lot until the second half. Their storyline really hit home to me. It was powerful and riveting stuff. The scene where Gavin gets drunk and acts crazy towards Patricia was memorable. The conclusion to their storyline was very heartbreaking. Malik Yoba gives quite a performance as the disheartened husband. Janet Jackson is efficient for the most part. Angela and Marcus steal the show on many occasions with their hilarious arguing. Obviously Tyler knew this and made a show around them. (For Better or Worse) Things get really silly at times, though. (Angela starts firing a gun in their bedroom when she thinks Marcus is sleeping with another woman!) Tasha Smith's actions are insane and deplorable, but I couldn't help but crack up her antics. Michael Jai White continues to prove he's not just another action star with his flamboyant showcase. The least effective storyline is between Terry and Dianne. Their problems are effective, but a bit too subtle at times. it was realistic and entertaining, though. Tyler Perry is his usual solid self. Sharon Leal is good as well. Richard T. Jones has more depth to his character this time. He's not just a slime ball anymore. He's still a smug jerk, but surprisingly vulnerable too. His character had an interesting spin on it. The Rock shows up at the end and has an awesome cameo! I literally clapped at his appearance.
These movies reminded me why I don't wanna get married. People forget why they fall in love and the romance seems to stop. Marriage is something that is supposed to be for good. Too many people take advantage of it. Some marriages are just not fixable. This is a very entertaining sequel, all issues aside. Tyler Perry is an underrated talent and there aren't too many of his movies that I dislike. His haters are moronic and don't give his movies the credit they deserve. His heart and his passion is clearly evident and I appreciate that. If you liked the first, you'll enjoy this one!
7.3/10