If you're old enough to remember the book and the original Disney film, then you'll be well aware of the glue that is strong enough to hold a family with 12 kids together - unconditional love for the family. When push comes to shove, the Baker clan has always known that family comes first.
This updated version sets its tone immediately with a mini-documentary that establishes where all their many kids came from, and in this case it is in many ways. There was a divorce on both sides of the relationship, an adoption, bi-racial kids from the new marriage and of course a nephew that quickly enters the picture to round out a total of 9+1 children.. That's the way they have chosen to interpret a dozen this time around, 12 bakers. You have your black kids, your wheel-chair bound child, your Indian represented child and the white kids and the bi-racial kids that came from the new marriage. If you're getting the feeling that this might be motivated to create a sense of token diversity you might be encouraged to feel that way by the political content of the film. The Baker's home features BLM signs and their dogs are named Joe Biten and Bark Obama (not sure if that's a compliment or an insult). Many opportunities are taken in dialogue to feature political ideologies including micro-aggressions, victim shaming and profiling. There are even some painful moments where the white cast are lectured about inequality and how they naturally fit in everywhere they go because they're white while black people are profiled, ostracized, discriminated against and generally lose opportunities because of generational wealth. White people are told that they can never understand what that is like and that their accomplishments are invalidated.
The writers handle this in some creative ways, and the responses are thought provoking. A contradiction is present, for example, when their white nephew is profiled because of his past behaviour and he was bullied and felt like a misfit, but the answer is found in the Baker's #1 rule - family comes first.
Not all of the scenarios outlined make sense but on the whole it is a sweet story of a family fighting to be genuine and the gist of the plot remains the same as previous films, albeit with some changes to the characters. But too many faces quickly disappear into the background while posing some unanswered questions along the way. There are two sets of twins, contributing to the feeling that the children all blend together. It never truly feels like a full house. This is where the film struggles to stay coherent. There are many characters that fail to be distinct, and several agendas that don't support the plot, all contributing to the feeling that this film was rushed while never connecting well with the traditional family audience that typically supported this kind of a family comedy/drama.
