Boo 2! A Madea Halloween, while suffering from an identity crisis about whether it wants to be a play or a movie, still brings endearing characters, solid Madea comedy and continues Tyler Perry's series that probably deserves more movies.
This was my entry point into Tyler Perry’s Madea series and the experience was much better than expected, though I will say that Madea was created and still is written/directed as if she is on a stage. I think that might be the biggest issue, outside of the secondary characters, which are throwaway at best.
Anyway, let’s dig right in, shall we?
Official Synopsis
Have no fear – Madea and friends are back in this screamingly funny follow-up to Tyler Perry’s comedy hit! When Brian’s (Tyler Perry) daughter sneaks off to attend a party at a haunted campground, Madea, Aunt Bam, Hattie and Joe set out on a hell-arious journey to bring her back, scaring up laughs and striking fear in all monsters, goblins and party animals standing in their way.
The three-act structure of this film is a bit odd when compared to other comedies. Tyler Perry, who is a phenomenal actor/writer/director — I adore his writing especially, treats this movie as if it were a play. Now, dear readers, there’s a huge difference in flow when you write for a film in play format. The structures are very different and compete with each other because the amount of exposition is greater in one (play) than in the other (film). Explaining in film usually is done through visuals or cues, while plays are required to write out explanations in their dialogue to help support the lack of visuals accompanying it.
In addition, with a play formatted film you have a lot less scenes to explore, less quick-cut editing situations and you get an extensive amount of dialogue between characters. Why is this? On stage you’re limited to places, therefore you have to reside in one scene (literal scene) for an extended amount of time, where dialogue is driving it all rather than visuals. That’s not a terrible thing at all, especially when you’re a talented writer like Perry, but when it’s translated to the silver screen it becomes a bit long in the tooth and can become stale.
Boo 2! A Madea Halloween has all the earmarks of a play and it shows quite often through out its structure, which sadly goes against the three-act narrative that makes movies work when done well. If you aren’t familiar with a three-act narrative, let me explain it. It’s broken up like this: you spend X amount of time in act-one introducing new/old characters/situation/setup, move to act two to explain the crisis and rising action, getting the real beef to the story during this act, then spend act three unraveling it all to conclusion/resolution. It’s a simple balance that has to be done correctly to pull off a great story and writing a movie like a play throws this balance off.
All of this said, and despite some minor characters from the previous film that are ‘okay’ actors at best, the comedy and delivery of the content is actually quite entertaining. As stated previously, Perry knows how to write and direct and it shines through not only Madea, who is a fantastic character, but also through his endearment for the situation he put his characters in. Let me explain a bit.
The entire film revolves around Brian’s need to keep his ‘just 18’ daughter in check, while at the same time trying to let her grow up, which is a terribly balancing act, if you are a parent. On top of this, Brian is also dealing with a non-communicating ex-wife that is purposely trying to go against his household rules with said daughter and undermine him at any given point. For example, the film starts with Brian waiting for his daughter in the parking lot of her school with birthday present and cheesy smile. It’s a birthday tradition that he has done since she was little and, of course, she is less than receptive to it. The ex-wife shows up shortly after Brian and his daughter have a brief argument about why she isn’t getting a car for her 18th birthday, and the ex-wife has bought their daughter a car without telling Brian. If you have ever had the displeasure of being part of a nasty divorce, then this scenario probably hits close to home for you and Perry makes it believable, which is why the setup connects with me.
Anyway, Perry writes everything perfectly for this simple opening act and establishes immediately that his character is losing his daughter, still on bad terms with his ex-wife and struggling to accept that his daughter is growing up and that she does need some space (not too much, but some). The dialogue is a bit long in this scene, but everything important and relevant to the story for acts two and three are wrapped up in this single scene. That’s impressive.
As act one wraps, Brian holds a secret birthday party for his daughter, which includes Madea and her friends in attendance. Sadly, his daughter, with secret permission, ends up leaving the party early to go spend Halloween night at a fraternity party by a lake famous for murders.
Solid act one that does everything it needs to do, but just very long in the tooth with dialogue and lack of scene changes, which can make it seem a bit draggy at times.
Act two begins with Brian finding out about the party, then shortly afterwards finding out that his wife ok’d it without his permission, which is then followed by something going terribly wrong at the lake party that results in missing people. Thus, the start of the ‘halloween’ part of this movie begins. The story shifts from Brian/Daughter/Ex-Wife focus to Madea and her gaggle of comedians going to the lake to retrieve Brian’s daughter. The car ride, which features quips and such, is led by constant stops for the paranormal. This car ride goes on forever, but features some fantastic comedy along the way. Act two concludes with Madea and friends getting to where they needed to go, but have one more obstacle along the way.
In true DC fashion, act three won’t be talked about. It does resolve fine, but there are some logistical questions and safety issues about decisions made/revealed in act three.
Overall, Boo 2! A Madea Halloween, while suffering from an identity crisis about whether it wants to be a play or a movie, still brings endearing characters, solid Madea comedy and continues Tyler Perry’s series that probably deserves more movies.
On the special features side of the tracks, here is what you’re looking at:
– Outtakes
– Deleted Scenes
– “Caddy Whack Boo” Featurette
– “Why We Love Joe!” Featurette
Decent features here with outtakes taking the cake.