REVIEW: A Madea Family Funeral

STORY BY JOHN CARTER JR.

Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral  Is like many other entries in the Madea franchise. It’s the story of Madea meeting up with random relatives and attempting to solve some underlying moral issue. I know this would be a typical plot line for any regular  6 out of 10 “The Slice of Life” movie, but like I mentioned, before this film follows in the footsteps of its predecessors in that this film is abysmal and fails to meet even the expectations of the prior Madea films. It represents a new kind of low in terms of cinematic work,  scripting, camera work, acting, pacing, and has a plethora of other factors that affect this film’s overall failure to execute its presumed goal to act as Madea’s Swan Song.

Mabel Simmons or Madea has had a Life in Her 12 cinematic appearances, one of which being an animated work aimed at children. The character is infamous in the black filmmaking community in that the character has often been criticized for it representing the negative stereotypes assigned to African American people in the United States. Directors like Spike Lee and Aaron McGruder have been major critics of the Madea franchise and Tyler Perry in particular.  Madea’s Family Funeral should be no different in terms of its scrutiny not only for its ridiculous stereotypical exaggerations but also because it falls flat in terms of any form of enjoyment.

The film is slow and has very weak execution in terms of its pacing. This is due to the lack of relatable comedic value and the manner in which how slow the scenes are. Even introducing a new character to the franchise,  Madea’s brother, doesn’t revitalize any energy in it. Furthermore, most of the plot lines and character arcs, if you could call them that, are so contrived that you can simply go to other Madea films to get a better experience.

That wouldn’t be saying much as the franchise is known for not doing well critically. Although Madea is loved by many fans or has been loved by many fans for being a hysterical and funny character, this film doesn’t give the audience any reason to invest time in any of the other films. It seems to be the case that Tyler Perry and the crew developing these Madea films were tired of the property and decided to just give in. It seems that Tyler Perry didn’t really care whether or not Madea had the proper go that fans had intended.  The film just seems very lazy and seems to lack any form of planning that the early films seemed to at least try to do.

  In conclusion, I would not recommend this film by any means of the word. Don’t waste your money going to the theater to see this. If you’re really want to wait until it comes out on DVD a year or two down the road when it’s in the 3 to $5 bin at Walmart, that’s your prerogative. The film just seemed like Tyler Perry’s last opportunity to cash in on this property that was clearly dying. There is a light at the end of the tunnel; however, this is the last Madea film.   

I give this film a 2 out of 10 for its terrible pacing, camera work, and its overall lack of inspiration.

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