HOLLYWOOD—I would be lying if I told you, I was aware of a third chapter in Tyler Perry’s popular franchise “Why Did I Get Married?” The first flick which was released in 2007, followed a group of married friends that partake in a getaway each year to bond and reminisce. However, secrets and betrayals are revealed at that infamous dinner table scene that so many people talk about till this day.
The popularity of the first film later spawned a sequel, “Why Did I Get Married Too?” that unleashed even more surprises for audiences and gave us that infamous scene involving Patricia Agnew (Janet Jackson) losing it. So fast forward almost 16 years later, and we have our third chapter in the franchise, with some new faces, and some missing ones as well. If you’re expecting to see Janet Jackson’s Pat, she is not here people, nor is her husband Gavin (Malik Yoba) who died in a car crash at the end of the previous movie.
We do see the return of Terry (Tyler Perry), Dianne (Sharon Leal), Marcus (Michael jai White), Angela (Tasha Smith), Mike (Richard T, Jones), Sheila (Jill Scott) and Troy (Lamman Rucker). You might be asking why are the friends getting together? They are celebrating the nuptials of Marcus and Angela’s daughter, to their pal Roselyn’s (Taraji P. Henson) son.
Yes, Roselyn is apparently a longtime friend of the group that the audience never got to meet. I honestly think this was Perry’s way of replacing Jackson’s Pat, who is mentioned in the movie, but never appears. The 4 ladies work, but I would have loved to see the character fleshed out even more. I will admit that was a character that I wanted to see again to see how her character is doing after losing her husband and her son. I guess we will never know.
Look, “Why Did I Get Married Again?” feels like familiar territory in my opinion. We get our characters that we love in particular Angela, who is an absolute scene stealer thanks to Smith who just eats up the role. She delivers the best one-liners and the funniest of scenes. The other scene stealer would have to be Jones as Mike, who even after surviving cancer has not changed his old ways, and has another big moment in this movie also.
Heck, he even brings a younger lady with him to this wedding in Italy, who just happens to be the ex of Marcus and Angela’s son, Marcus Jr. Yeah, Marcus and this young lady are hooking up behind Mike’s back. The audience doesn’t get anything new much with this installment except we have all of the couple’s children a lot older and it almost feels as if they might be stepping into the role of their parents much sooner if Perry decides another entry into the franchise.
There is a big moment in the climax that feels a bit preachy, but it would have been more exciting if we saw a lot more strife in the couple’s marriage because anyone who is married or who has been married, know its constant struggles and tribulations. I did laugh quite a bit and that was an enjoyable element of the movie, but what was missing for me was the drama. I wanted more drama considering all the mayhem we got in the last 2 movies. Yes, there is tension between Roselyn and her son, but we keep hearing about his drug addicted father and her ex-husband, but we never see him and I think that was needed in my opinion.
The good thing is you don’t have to go to the theater for this movie, because it’s available on Netflix for your viewing at home.
Written By LaDale Anderson
