Simply A Masterpiece

One of the worst movies I've ever seen

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Spoiler alert!!!!!So, the billionaire guy being beyond perfect and a little too grovel-y is soooo not logical I had to suspend belief as much as I do when watching marvel film Fight scenes where no one important ever dies (that's for another review, another time.)Lastly, she chose the wrong guy. Why would you choose someone who is emotionally stunted, doesn't know how to care for you and you never succeeded at having a lasting relationship with him? Even though we all know she will choose him in the end like always, it would've been sooo refreshing to see the character make a smart choice for once and pick the good guy, who knows how to take good care of you and respect you, and be fun, positive, kind, etc. not to mention Patrick Dempsey > Colin Firth (sorry Darcy fans.)

This time Apple really went too far. Up until now the worst was the scene in Silver Linings Playbook where Julia Stiles' character utters "You don't have an iPod? Who doesn't have an iPod??" but this is a hundred times worse. There's hardly a scene in the first half of the movie where we don't see the logo. You actually forget you're watching a movie. It borders on farce when Bridget is holding her phone and adjusts her fingers so that you can see the Apple logo from between her fingers. Google have their bit too, but smaller. I get it, Apple own Hollywood so modern movies happen in this alternate universe where not only everyone's area code is 555 but everyone uses Apple products. Kind of like Acme in the cartoons. But isn't product placement supposed to be subtle and work subconsciously, rather than be shoved down our throats all the time?What about the rest of the movie? I remembered Bridget being a nice and kind person. Here she comes out as selfish, inconsiderate and unlikeable. The story is uninteresting. I didn't even care what happens in the end. I found Patrick Dempsey's character annoying. Sarah Solemani and Kate O'Flynn have some semi-funny moments. Colin Firth is the same as usual. I give it a three.

Absolutely awful. Wrong ending. Wrong guy. Absolutely awful. Wrong ending. Wrong guy. Absolutely awful. Wrong ending. Wrong guy. Absolutely awful. Wrong ending. Wrong guy. Absolutely awful. Wrong ending. Wrong guy.Absolutely awful. Wrong ending. Wrong guy.Absolutely awful. Wrong ending. Wrong guy.

'Bridget Jones's Diary' was an immensely enjoyable film. It had a lot going for it, and succeeded on almost every level. It didn't cover much new ground and didn't break any conventions, but it was warm, charming, hugely funny and sometimes poignant, with a great cast. 'Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason' was however a big step down, despite being adeptly played it lost a lot of what made 'Bridget Jones's' Diary so good.Heard a lot of different opinions on 'Bridget Jones's' Baby. Some people said that it was a return to form and a huge improvement over 'Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason'. Others said that it was worse and had no point to it. Having seen it myself, initially worried but really wanting to like it and judge it as mindless entertainment, to me it was an improvement but not by much. Not a return to form and nowhere near as good as 'Bridget Jones's Diary'. There are things that are done better here, but there are also the same mistakes and also a few different ones.It has its good points certainly. 'Bridget Jones's Baby' looks good, being mostly attractive visually in a film that doesn't require epic sweeping cinematography or opulence while still being beautifully shot and with striking locations.Again, like the previous two films, 'Bridget Jones's' Baby' is adeptly played. Renee Zellwegger, whose Bridget is nowhere near as much a parody or the butt of the joke like in 'Edge of Reason', overdoes it in the facial expressions (on a side note, and no shallowness intended, the Botox does not help), but really attempts and succeeds at bringing out the great qualities of her acting in the previous two films, trying to bring out the funny, adorably awkward and sympathetic sides of her character when the material allows it and her accent more than game.Colin Firth is sophisticated, understated and charmingly stoic. Gemma Jones and Jim Broadbent seem incapable of giving bad performances, though they did deserve more to do, while Sarah Solemani brings an enjoyable amount of sauciness. The casting highlight however is Emma Thompson, who is a hoot and is a breath of fresh air with the funniest material. On that note, there are more amusing moments here than there were in 'Edge of Reason', Thompson's material mostly but also the reason for Hugh Grant's absence and Ed Sheeran. The soundtrack is more appealing this time round with better choice of songs.For all those good things, the story is even more contrived and predictable than 'Edge of Reason', and, apart from a few good moments, too much of the writing and gags are tired, recycled and even more stale, freshness was sorely lacking here. The romantic elements are lacking in heart and warmth and, despite a subject that so many people would relate to, 'Bridget Jones's Baby' does little with the subject and offers nothing illuminating.Some of the subplots are strange and clumsily used, especially the one dealing with the punk rock, which didn't seem to fit. Patrick Dempsey is a comparatively fairly weak and mediocre at best substitute for the much missed Hugh Grant (who excelled so well at playing against type previously), having much less of his charm and charisma and instead coming off as both bland and annoying.While the songs themselves are good, the placement for some isn't, with some misplaced randomness going on. Sharon Maguire's direction is more competent here but is still uninspired, while there is some amateurish editing and obvious, cheap use of green screen.Overall, not awful but a disappointment and should have been so much better. Instead of laughing consistently, being touched or oohing and ahhing, found myself questioning 'Bridget Jones's Baby's' necessity and thinking "so what?". 5/10 Bethany Cox