Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivqhlpUCnZY
Rating- R
Genre- Parody/Comedy/Horror
Warning- Vulgar language/Sexual material/Violence/Drug use
It is finally that time of the year to spend my vacation at home- no school, no homework, no worries- just sitting in my bed doing whatever I please. So with that benefit in hand, I took pleasure in having my own bedroom again and not in a shared dorm, eating from my fridge and not walking miles to the cafeteria and best of all, not having to interact with people on a daily basis. It sure is a dream.
Being on vacation also gives me more time to post my thoughts on any and all types of movies that grace our world today. It has been over a month since my last review, so my critiquing skills can be a bit rusty for now.
So I figured, I need something to critic to help me get back into the swing of things, a movie that I can ease into, a movie that doesn't give me too much to think about, a movie in which the plot and its characters don't challenge my brain to think outside the box.
Thankfully, I found the answer to my prayers when I watched, "Meet the Blacks" on Netflix.
"Meet the Blacks" is a parody off of the 2013 thriller, "The Purge" which centers on a family who are terrorized one night during an annual event which allows people to commit any crime-including murder- without consequences.
Stand-up comedian Mike Epps takes on the role as Carl, a father and husband who undergoes similar horrors, having his home broken into and his family on edge as strangers attempt to kill them all.
Is, "Meet the Blacks" a movie that people can laugh at all night or is it something that must be purged out of our heads?
After watching this movie, I decided on something that I believe is a useful tip to make a good parody. If you want to make a good parody, then make sure the story is cohesive. By that, I mean double check that the whole plot makes sense even if the viewer has no clue about what the movie is referencing to. In addition to that, stray away from making it as dated as possible.
Making a parody non-dated can be a challenge, since it's a must to include some popular elements of the times into a parody, but I think it can be done gracefully by not mentioning too many famous celebrity names of that generation or focusing the humor on people or things that the audience might have to look up to understand why the joke is supposed to be funny.
I believe this is the movie's biggest downfall: the focus of the humor. Parody movies are well-known for its off-color and juvenile humor, but when it came to watching this film I barely laughed at any jokes thrown my way.
I am a person who would die laughing at Scary Movie (2000) and even found myself cracking smiles at Date Movie (2006), but with those their jokes were more-can't believe I'm saying this- developed per say. Their humor didn't just derive from, "I'm this stereotype, don't people like me act like this all the time?" or "This is happening to me because I'm this stereotype, aren't I?"
The mostly African-American cast consistently pointed out the fact they are indeed people of color. Plus, the fact that they are people of color seems to be so hilarious it needs to be brought up every single minute and must be the reason for every incident that occurs to them.
It may seem like this is funny, but having a whole movie with only that type of humor is not a smart move on the writer's part.
I could say the most hilarious joke in the world, but if I repeat it over and over, it not longer makes people roar with laughter. At least with Scary Movie and Date Movie, they didn't just focus on a character's race, it also paid attention to things like their mannerisms and even their objective in the story.
Arguably the most recognized character in Scary Movie is Shorty played by Marlon Waynes, and he didn't point out that he was black all the time. He also showed how stupid he is when he was high and even how caring he was for main character, Cindy (at times). Point is, he wasn't just defined by the color of his skin.
Date Movie's female lead Julia played by Alyson Hannigan goes throughout the story hoping to meet the man of her dreams and tries to keep her relationship alive in spite of ex-lovers and judgemental parents.
What does Carl like to do? I don't know.
What's so special about Carl's wife, Lorena (Zulay Henao)? She's attractive...?
What's Carl's relationship like with his kids? They might hate him...might.
There is either no answer or uncertainty when it comes to in-depth questions about these characters, so it leaves me to not care about them and have little sympathy for whatever happens to them.
There were several opportunities that the movie created for themselves to expand upon with the characters, very obvious issues within the family that could have been addressed further on, but as soon as it's addressed it is never brought up again and it usually overshadowed by a joke that can age horribly within 5 years time.
The plot for the most part strays away from the whole home invasion aspect and rather on Carl's misdemeanors he committed before moving to Beverly Hills. Almost every antagonist attempts to harm the main character because of some stereotypical reason.
That may not make too much sense right now, but let me give you an example:
"Why don't you like to spend time with my family?"
"You know why, because you white folk never like to season your food! You so bland, you consider seasoning to be water!"
Now imagine that response to every characters' motivation. Annoying right?
Aside from that, the movie made excuses for so many celeberties to join the parody bandwagon and I know why, it's so people can be convinced that it would be so good.
It was clear how lazy the editors were when producing this because I spotted three occasions where a character's lines would be repeated and in the same scene too! It was like no one was even trying to space the repetition a part a bit more.
The sound effects were also abysmal, with sounds like screaming and growling not matching the character and one scene where a character wasn't even moving his mouth when he was supposed to be talking. The small things like that can create large blunders in a film when done on multiple occasions.
"Meet the Blacks" felt like a complete fail for me, and that is saying a lot for someone who normally enjoys parody movies. I can notice the decline in quality humor the more the years fly by due to my lack of interest in these parodies and what little faith I have in them to succeed.
I think what a lot of people who create these believe is that the audience is looking for three things: comedy, swearing and sex. There is so many more traits to a parody that can be included in that equation and should be included like well-developed characters, good timing and at least some common sense and build up.
Just because a famous actor spouts the F word on screen doesn't mean that's all it takes to get an audience laughing. You never know who will be sitting to watch your creation and people don't all apply to one brand of humor, so at least show some effort in appealing to people aside from those who are content with just seeing actors live up to stereotypes or sell sex appeal.
This movie will be thrown into the pile of failed parodies with all the potential to be great but utilized none of it and settled for overused racial tropes and excessive vulgar language sprinkled with unnecessary sexual material.
I give this movie a 1 out of 5 stars.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
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Watching the entire movie now, what was the purpose of Snoop Dogg in a blonde wig? Just to have him to gain more audience attention? Yeah, that's it.
"Getting out of Chicago was the best thing ever," that line was said twice.
I'm tired of movies pointing out black stereotypes. You know, pointing them out this much and following those tropes doesn't make us empowered, it makes us look silly and ignorant people would think that's how all African-American people behave.
That Asian lady is going to try to kill them later.
See?! The Asian lady threatened to kill them!
If the teenage girl (forgot her name) was concerned about who was texting her, why would she thank the "stranger" for talking about her butt before asking who it was?
I laughed a bit when she thought Kingbach-oh, I mean her boyfriend-was rapper Big Sean.
The joke where the teenager's boyfriend pushed her on the bed and was eager to have sex seemed like it was leading to a rape scene which is not okay.
The part where Carl asked why the Smiths were yelling was funny. I found that funny.
Okay and now it's ruined with the husbands creeping on the other's wife. This goes on for a while too. Think about how women in the audience feel seeing that, added to the fact that Lorena is uncomfortable with Carl's cousin openly masturbating to her and Carl laughs it off and the teenager almost being raped by her boyfriend?
Okay, first off that was small slap on the hand, was that really something that required a, "I hate you dad, I'm going upstairs" reaction. Secondly, bringing up the mother dying was so forced. Can I really take that seriously after all that has happened so far?
Teenage girl, you literally saw a bunch of people with guns outside and you still saying a purge can't happen in Beverly Hills? You were just begging your father not to go outside because there will be a purge and now you're contradicting your own words! This is stupid.
Charlie Murphy! This is eerie now that he has passed on.
What the hell was that yell?!
Are they calling him Carl Jr or Carl's Jr? If it's the latter, is that a joke on the fast food restaurant Carl's Jr?
Why are they so scared to get in trouble? It's. the. PURGE.
The Asian lady is going to save them as a reason to get her money, I can feel it.
Carl said the purge was over but the cop still wanted to kill him, so Carl had to kill him. I think it would have fit the comedy of the story if someone found out that Carl killed the cop after the purge was over and arrested him.
The Asian lady never came up? Where was she? She might have died.
Questions: Were they really thinking this would have a sequel? Seriously, this should not have a sequel. Second, why didn't the movie use Carl Jr's vampire shtick and drone to their advantage? It was pushed at us from the beginning so I'm surprised they made the boy just hide most of the time and- oh, I'm sure they did that because that boy's mother needed him to do other responsibilities during shooting. Lastly, is Carl's cousin going to stop being inappropriate to Lorena?
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