Hellur there, Robbie K is back again and if you haven't guessed my next review is on the latest Tyler Perry "masterpiece". Madea, and all her lovable qualities, has been making audiences laugh for almost twenty years. Although many of her movies are essentially double dipped versions with a slight twist, the crossdressing writer continues to get people to flood into theaters almost every year. So, let's see if the mad woman can conquer a Halloween themed movie, shall we?
LIKES: Madea smacking on young kids Some clever jokes and timing A change in setting
sort of
I'll come out and say that I'm not a die-hard fan of the series like others, but I'd also be lying if I said I didn't enjoy her brand of justice. Madea's Halloween has plenty of moments where juvenile, annoying teenage characters meet her wrath. Smacks in the back of the head, fists flying into rubber noses, and intense threats are just some of the tactics the old woman uses to scare the daylights out the brats. It's silly fun that will keep many laughing most of the movie, but Perry sneaks a few morals into the mix to give some of the scenes a point. Older generations will surely enjoy seeing the immature generation get some sense beaten into them. And when Madea isn't laying the smack down, she also manages to get some clever jokes into the mix. Amidst the mindless ramblings that come out of our characters 90% of the time, Madea gets a few good lines in to maximize the laughs. Often this is in the form on an insult or a rebuttal to an accusation, but Perry has some witty moments that had me riling. Her brother Joe had me laughing even more, primarily due to his well-timed confession though I wish he could have a cleaner mouth at times. Ms. Hattie and Aunt Bam also contribute some of the laughs, rounding out the comedy to appeal to as many people as possible. Finally, it was nice to see Madea leave her home for
somebody else's home. Madea's Halloween hasn't moved too far from her hood, but it integrated a new theme into the setting to freshen things up. The spoof on killer clowns, the integration of a frat house, and putting some ghost themed tricks into the mix finally broke the mold on the family drama that every other installment has. Halloween trades the tearful, preachy character moments for more laughs, giving it a more positive energy that doesn't make you want to take a nap. This new approach will be refreshing for most and may be the new formula to Madea's success.
DISLIKES: Annoying characters and antics Rambling gets old Editing
Tyler Perry certainly knows how to develop annoying character, and Madea's Halloween does not get an exception. As mentioned earlier, the teenagers are annoying representations of today's youth, portrayed as being obsessed with booze, sex, and back talking parents. The main girl Tiffany takes lead in this category. Her extreme rebellious attitude leads to over dramatic and overacted antics that rubbed my nerves raw. The rest of the cohort doesn't fare much better, with the exception of one, that serve little more than becoming fodder for Madea and having audience members say "Oh no she didn't!" And I'll get bashed for this, but Ms. Hattie was too much for me in this movie. In her past appearances, the small woman's high pitched voice was timed well to be fun and funny, but she was too much for me in this film. Her antics were too overdone and her voice just rubbed me the wrong way. If you like her though, then good news, she's in this movie a lot. Something else that started rubbing me the wrong way was the rambling. Madea and company have many moments where all they do is gab, usually involving three to four people talking incoherently about drugs, sex, stupidity, drugs, sex, stupidity, police, crime, and stupidity. Then Madea comes in and shares her experience and the rambling starts again. Yes this is Madea and it has come to be expected, but usually there are some other things to break it up. Not the case in this film and the lack of balance quickly led to the ramblings getting stale and losing its comedic edge for me, though this wasn't the case for a lot of the audience. As for the editing, it is greatly skewed in this movie and quite poor to be honest. At least three times the movie was just extended sequences of rambling that did little for me other than add forty-five extra minutes to the movie, though it did have others laughing their heads off. Even more disappointing is that the Halloween theme is kind of lost to Madea's rambling and so much potential for jokes is lost to the old hat antics, which is just so sad. But with how much fun most will have with this movie, I don't think this will be an issue to most.
The Verdict:
Madeas Halloween is surprisingly fun and refreshing compared to her other works. It's filled with her characteristic rambling, corny insults, and the same types of jokes that have been played for years. Unfortunately for this reviewer, the Halloween potential was lost to annoying characters and rambling, which only extended the run time for me. While this is certain to win top box office this weekend, this reviewer thinks this movie is best left to TBS/TNT showings.
My scores are: Comedy/Horror: 6.5 Movie Overall: 5.5
