Ten films in, it's pretty much assumed by now that the Madea series has shaken off any audiences who don't already want to be on its coattails. Those in the theater with me wanted to be there and damn all those who, like myself, would snap-judge Madea and her posse of octogenarian clowns. Screw those who poo-poo the series for being painfully unfunny, offensively trashy, unendingly annoying, obnoxiously time consuming, woefully amateurish and elementally lacking in the basic necessities of competent storytelling. For even if you think all these things, you still must admit, if nothing else, Tyler Perry's wildly successful, cheaply made, broadly drawn comedy series has legs that just won't quit.
So for a change, I'll dispense with the usual five minute set. I won't complain about how unfunny this particular film is as claiming so can be waived off by someone else managing a slight chuckle. I won't complain about the disjointed, obvious and boooooring narrative which chugs along like Madea's Cadillac on a flat tire. Heck, I won't even talk about how every time a Madea flick comes out, seeing the crowd makes me question human behavior to the extent that I feel like the proverbial next door neighbor saying, "He was so very nice – no idea what could have gone wrong." Instead I'd like to focus all my attention (and vitriol) on Tyler Perry's apparent lack of respect for his audience; a lack of respect that, more than ever feels gross and mean-spirited. Before watching Boo 2, I ascribed to the same school of thought as Demetria Lucas D'Oyley when she wrote for The Root, "He has a lane. He drives in it." The appeal of his characters and his outsized media persona is one of broad stroke buffoonery and simple-world proselytizing but at least he's found his fans and they've found him. Marriage made in heaven with the same level of intensity as Insane Clown Posse and their Juggolos.
Yet by the time the film drops its first plot point, it becomes clear the love is all one-sided. Nearly everything of substance from the first film has been erased; the lessons, the character dynamics, the film's very continuity all heavily favoring a hard reboot where nothing about Boo 1! (2016) actually mattered. The movie then strips out all of the forced religiosity save for a few God d**ns which, for better or worse, made Madea part of a certain audiences' normal media diet.
Lacking a plot at all capable of filling in the one and a half hour run time and all that's left to pad this largely melted s**t sundae is Perry mugging for the camera as one of three insufferable characters. This wouldn't be such a problem for fans accustomed to the constant barrage of b***hing and nagging. But most of what is said are quite literally rewrites of the same tired jokes we've heard in Witness Protection (2012), Big Happy Family (2011) and for that matter, the first Boo! There's even the reoccurring "she's really a dude" gag that's repeated not once, not twice but three bloody times! I'd say it's lazy but given how absurdly repetitive this all is, I was half expecting Sacha Baron Cohen to come popping out of that dress saying, "gotcha!" All this and add to it Perry's obviously censored d**ns, f**ks and s**ts and you got yourself a movie that is daring longtime fans to abandon Perry's media empire built on lazy, terrible stereotypes. And what's left when all that bilious smoke has cleared? A quickie cash grab haphazardly assembled with no interest in delivering the minimum, let alone a worthwhile product. Comparatively this thing is somewhere between Madea Goes to Jail (2009) and one of Tyler Perry's bowel movements after one too many Arby's Beef 'N Cheddars. And that my friends, is about as objectively critical as one can be without screaming at the box office numbers and questioning whether there is a God.
So for a change, I'll dispense with the usual five minute set. I won't complain about how unfunny this particular film is as claiming so can be waived off by someone else managing a slight chuckle. I won't complain about the disjointed, obvious and boooooring narrative which chugs along like Madea's Cadillac on a flat tire. Heck, I won't even talk about how every time a Madea flick comes out, seeing the crowd makes me question human behavior to the extent that I feel like the proverbial next door neighbor saying, "He was so very nice – no idea what could have gone wrong." Instead I'd like to focus all my attention (and vitriol) on Tyler Perry's apparent lack of respect for his audience; a lack of respect that, more than ever feels gross and mean-spirited. Before watching Boo 2, I ascribed to the same school of thought as Demetria Lucas D'Oyley when she wrote for The Root, "He has a lane. He drives in it." The appeal of his characters and his outsized media persona is one of broad stroke buffoonery and simple-world proselytizing but at least he's found his fans and they've found him. Marriage made in heaven with the same level of intensity as Insane Clown Posse and their Juggolos.
Yet by the time the film drops its first plot point, it becomes clear the love is all one-sided. Nearly everything of substance from the first film has been erased; the lessons, the character dynamics, the film's very continuity all heavily favoring a hard reboot where nothing about Boo 1! (2016) actually mattered. The movie then strips out all of the forced religiosity save for a few God d**ns which, for better or worse, made Madea part of a certain audiences' normal media diet.
Lacking a plot at all capable of filling in the one and a half hour run time and all that's left to pad this largely melted s**t sundae is Perry mugging for the camera as one of three insufferable characters. This wouldn't be such a problem for fans accustomed to the constant barrage of b***hing and nagging. But most of what is said are quite literally rewrites of the same tired jokes we've heard in Witness Protection (2012), Big Happy Family (2011) and for that matter, the first Boo! There's even the reoccurring "she's really a dude" gag that's repeated not once, not twice but three bloody times! I'd say it's lazy but given how absurdly repetitive this all is, I was half expecting Sacha Baron Cohen to come popping out of that dress saying, "gotcha!" All this and add to it Perry's obviously censored d**ns, f**ks and s**ts and you got yourself a movie that is daring longtime fans to abandon Perry's media empire built on lazy, terrible stereotypes. And what's left when all that bilious smoke has cleared? A quickie cash grab haphazardly assembled with no interest in delivering the minimum, let alone a worthwhile product. Comparatively this thing is somewhere between Madea Goes to Jail (2009) and one of Tyler Perry's bowel movements after one too many Arby's Beef 'N Cheddars. And that my friends, is about as objectively critical as one can be without screaming at the box office numbers and questioning whether there is a God.