Hot Take: As unfunny as expected but nowhere near as annoying. That’s something, right?
I was not the target audience for Bridget Jones’s Baby. Having very little to do with my gender, it seems that Bridget Jones’s Baby appeals only to those who have already invested time and energy into the Bridget Jones character and having spent time rummaging through her diary would now be curious to see what would happen if she got pregnant during a week of promiscuity. As I never peered into Bridget Jones’s Diary nor bothered to view its sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, it was hard to understand what exactly was so enthralling about Renée Zellweger’s character.
As a complete outsider to the Bridget Jones phenomenon, here’s what I gathered from my first experience with the cinematic world’s favorite single girl. Bridget embarrasses herself… a lot. It seems to be her calling card. Whether it be showing up dressed inappropriately for a music festival then falling in a pit of mud or taking a phone call while she’s supposed to be feeding questions to her on-air talent or accidentally running into the two guys she slept with who might be her baby’s daddy, based on the audience response, it’s what they came to see. No matter how often she trips up or makes a fool of herself, everyone around her loves her. Apparently, her embarrassing moments give off some sort of pheromone that make everyone go crazy over her. That’s all I can gather.
As for the film itself, it’s harmless enough. There isn’t much that happens that is overly funny. There’s a few mildly amusing moments although most of the material is, at best, smile inducing. If you’ve seen the trailer, you can predict the movie’s highs and lows and even someone who has never seen the previous movies in the trilogy can predict the ending. However, the movie’s clichéd approach and obvious twists and turns are likely to make it appealing to someone already hooked on Bridget who has been waiting over a decade to come back to the big screen. I just don’t happen to be one of those people.
“Spoiler Free” Pros
- Like An Old Sweater
If there’s any way to describe Bridget Jones’s Baby, it’s as if they somehow took your favorite comfy sweater and made it into celluloid. - The Music
The soundtrack for Bridget Jones’s Baby is excellent. From Ed Sheeran (who also has a cameo) to Motown to Rihanna to Lily Allen, the music of the film is not only excellent, it fits, too.
“Spoiler Free” Cons
- How is Colin Firth vs. Patrick Dempsey Even a Contest?
It would be one thing if Firth’s character Mark had a personality but holy crap, he’s a crabby curmudgeon with very little positive to add. The whole time you imagine her ending up with Mark, you just assume they are preparing for the fourth installment in the series, Bridget Jones’s Divorce. - The Ending
As expected as it was, there are a few things that were troublesome. Since this is a spoiler free zone, it’s not something we’ll go into depth on but considering we’ve already seen three of these Bridget Jones movies, did we really need anything to remind us there could be a fourth?
I hate Bridget jones’ baby : /