Meet The Blacks

I love great comedians, who can make an audience laugh, both on stage, and in films. There are of course so many comedians out there to choose between, but you always find some of them more funny than others. There are also those who started as comedians on stage, and became more popular in films. Let´s take Mike Epps as an example. Since he started doing comedy stand up in 1995 with Def Comedy Jam, he have been in a lot of films over the years. Just look at some examples, how about Next Friday, Dr Dolittle 2,  Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins among others. As you probably have guessed by now, all of these films should have been Oscar nominated. My biggest memory of Mike Epps is actually in the 2 films Next Friday and Friday After Next. If some of you remember the Friday films with Ice Cube, you might remember that they were actually pretty funny, making fun of ghetto, hip hop, and different kinds of cultural styles. Even though Mike Epps have tried doing other genre films, outside the comedy genre, i think it is pretty clear that he must know where he belongs. There is however one film i have thought about seeing, with him in the cast, that looks different from his earlier work. The film is called Repentance, and have a cast of Forest Whitaker and Anthony Mackie included. A smaller film, that is supposed to be ok in the thriller genre. I think it is a good thing if comedians dare to move outside their comfort zone, and do something unexpected. You might remember when Jim Carrey did his film The Number 23 back in 2007, it did cause reactions from fans and film critics. I would not say that it was one of Jim Carrey´s better films, but it was nice to see him surprise everyone. You could say that Mike Epps have tried to do so also, especially when he joined the cast of 2 Resident Evil films. During spring time this year, i heard rumors about Mike Epps getting his own major role in a new comedy. Since i did not know much at all about the film, i decided to wait and see what he would bring us. The title did not surprise me at all, Meet The Blacks sounds pretty much as a typical comedy. Then i heard online that it would be a comedy, making fun of the first The Purge film. In some ways, this felt like a warning sign. Most parody comedies are not as good as some classics, The Naked Gun films as an example. They would never have been so great without Leslie Nielsen and director David Zucker. I always try and go into a film with an open mind, and of course i had to give Meet The Blacks a chance as well. Is this much more fun than i expected, or is Meet The Blacks just as horrible as Left Behind turned out to be ?

Carl Black ( Mike Epps ) decide to move out of Chicago, after stealing a lot of money, from the criminal drug king Key Flo ( Charlie Murphy ). Carl moves to Beverly Hills, with his wife Lorena Black ( Zulay Henao ) , his son Carl, Jr Black ( Ale Henderson ), his daughter Allie Black ( Bresha Webb and cousin Cronut ( Lil Duval ). Everything seems alright, and they like their new neighborhood. When Carl and the family finds out, that Purge night is about to start, the safe image is about to be broken.

You know, it becomes more obvious that Hollywood is really trying to push out anything they can, just to make a profit. So the easiest way to do that, is to borrow influences from other films, mix it all together, and hope that people will have fun. Meet The Blacks is one obvious example, how you throw in different comedy clichés, mix it all together with gangsta influences. But here you also borrow influenses from The Purge films, just to make sure that the audience will enjoy themselves. It would have been a good idea to make fun of these films, if it was done correctly, with a lot of satire. Meet The Blacks is nowhere near that level, this is a dumb vulgar comedy that does not even try to be funny. A lot of the jokes focus on black people, and try to joke about typical black people issues. As i sat watching this film, i could barely laugh at any point. Not even the main character Carl Black, played by comedian Mike Epps, could make this film funny. I don´t mind vulgar language, or stupid characters, but if you don´t know how to make a film funny, you should just skip the comedy genre. Mike Epps is as usual loud, and try to sound like a crazy guy. It just don´t work, and i have no idea why the Purge theme is here. I enjoy parodies, but this parody is lazy as hell. Director Deon Taylor have directed a couple of films in the past, and one of the films i did enjoy is called Supremacy. With great performances from Danny Glover and Joe Anderson, among others, this small film managed to bring an important message. To be honest, i have no idea why he thought Meet The Blacks was a film he needed to do. Was it because he needed cash ? I would think so. Because this is not a comedy you want to waste your time on. He does not even try and make the characters funny, and this is something he should have at least fixed. The only actor i can think of, that might be the only one to deliver anything, is Zulay Henao. The plot is very thin, and there is absolutely no meaning to having the Purge in here. Meet The Blacks is a stupid ass comedy, with almost no funny scenes at all. I already regret seeing it, just like i did when i almost did not survive, watching Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1. Mike Epps a good advice, stop doing a lead role, unless you find a good script. If you continue on this level as this film, your comedy future may be in danger. I suggest you all go in and rent The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, if you want to laugh at black jokes. This is one really funny comedy. Just avoid Meet The Blacks at all cost.

Rating: D