Tyler Perry's
Boo! A Madea Halloween
review by Bobby Blakey
Although Tyler Perry’s films started off as powerful pieces that offered up some laughs while surrounded by some pretty deep subject matter, the latest adventures with Madea have been a bit more light-hearted. Now the latest theatrical release Boo! A Madea Halloween is coming home, but does it find its place and bring the laughs or will it be yet another that fails to do scare up the fun?
Boo! A Madea Halloween follows Madea who is summoned to keep a watchful eye on Brian’s teenage daughter and keep her out of trouble. Little does Madea know, the trouble is coming for her. Fortunately, or not, she has her posse of Bam, Hattie and Joe to shield off ghosts and killer clowns. I must admit that I was big fan of the early appearances of Madea in Diary of a Mad Black Woman and I Can Do Bad All By Myself, but once Madea became really popular the films got a bit too silly and over the top. The last few have had some great moments, but overall just didn’t work for me so going into this latest film I was pretty hesitant. What is funny about this film is that unlike a lot of his previous films that are based on his stage productions this one is actually an original screen idea that is based off a throw away joke in the Chris Rock film Top Five.
I opted to try and keep an open mind this time around with it being something fresh and new for the character and happy to say that is really silly, but in the end I had some fun with it. Sure it lacks all the depth and powerful messages that the early films did, but that is not really the point here. This film is for the comedy and lets Madea and her crazy kin and friends yuck it up from beginning to end. There is a small aspect regarding family and parenting that cements it together, but as a whole this is all about letting Perry have some silly fun with these characters and he does just that. This isn’t breaking down any walls in the comedy genre, but it managed to get me laughing out loud a couple of times and that’s all I really expected here.
In the end this is a better film for the Madea character and letting the focus firmly stay on her, Hattie played by Patrice Lovely, Aunt Bam played by Cassi Davis and Joe also played by Perry it took the stuff that worked with those characters and let them run wild like only they can. If you are not a fan of his other films or the Madea character in general then you will likely not like this film either, but if you are then give it a shot as it is a lot of fun. This release offers up not only the film, but also some fun bonus features that take you behind the making of this film. Grab your copy of Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween when it hits Blu-ray and DVD on January 31st from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.