“You gonna have an open bar?… We’ll be there.”

Genre: Madea Movies (yes, she’s in a genre all her own, as is just and right)
Release Date: 2025
Where I Watched: Netflix

Gist: When Madea’s granddaughter Tiffany gets engaged, nephew Brian struggles to figure out how he became so distant from his kids. As his ex Debrah plows through plans Tiffany a “lavish” destination wedding in the Bahamas, the family has their own issues. Will Tiffany and her man make it down the aisle? Your guess is as good as mine.

Gotta say: C’mon now. If you clicked on this review, you’ve already got your ideas about Tyler Perry’s most famously infamous character, Madea. And nothing I write will talk you into, or out of, watching this latest installment. So let’s just have fun, you and me, okay? Cool.

When I saw this title, I clicked on Add To My List so fast. What can I say? I love Perry when he blends comedy, outrageousness, and an extremely obvious message about family/faith/forgiveness. Now more than ever, don’t we all need a bit of silliness? I know I do. And Wedding delivers. Seeing Madea interact with her family is just the kind of foolishness I needed.

One thing I have to call out, because I’m obnoxious? It’s not the father of the bride that pays for the wedding. It’s the bride’s family that pays. And that’s an old, outdated tradition. But without this issue, a lot of the telenovella tension wouldn’t exist.

If you think Perry is taking a page from Adam Sandler’s handbook and decided to make a movie to justify a vacation? Um, maybe. But at least this movie is fun. The entire Madea Simmons family has the kind of loving insanity that keeps things lively. Perry manages to keep the chaotic dialogue between these overbearing characters easy to understand, which is a feat in itself. The more composed characters balance things, keeping the crazy tempered. Well, a little bit, at least.

There’s lots of Bahamas beauty to drink in around the characters. It’s part story, part Bahamas Atlantis ad. But it’s all so gorgeous, I’m gonna let it go. Costuming and hair is a similar balance as the characters, with the loud, bright ensembles Leroy wears being the pinnacle of awesomeness. (I kinda love the mushroom outfit. I can’t help myself.)

As with any other Perry joint, just about everything gets tied up nicely by the credits roll. For every bit of tension, there’s a catharsis. That’s what I really enjoy about these movies. Sure, they’re silly. Of course the comedy is over the top almost every single time, with the characters are borderline caricatures. But it’s an enjoyable kind of silly. The over the top moments are a good fit with the craziness the characters find themselves sucked into. And the characters may be too much too often, but there’s a solid backbone of love and affection between them that comes out from time to time to temper the bombast.

I wouldn’t classify Wedding as a turn your brain off movie. It’s a film you should enjoy for what it is; a story about the craziest members of your family dialed up to 11, and then placed into a situation that’s bound to make even the sanest people go a little nuts. Let the beautiful hotel soothe your eyes, the  feel good ending soothe your heart, and sink into this goofy fairy tale.

Come for: Tyler Perry doing Tyler Perry things.
Stay for: A huge dose of silly that’ll hit the spot if you need a break from *waves hands around vaguely*.