American Pie for a new generation
Wow, this movie surprised me; I really wasn’t expecting much at all, maybe that’s why I enjoyed it so much? Honestly, when I saw the trailer I wasn’t impressed as it didn’t look that funny but the scenes shown in the trailer work much better in context of the whole film. Regardless this is one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in the cinemas for ages and it’s a great start for 2018 with this and Game Night both being great additions to the comedy genre.
So Blockers follows three parents who discover that they’re daughters have made a pact to lose their virginity on prom night and they set out to prevent this from happening by any means necessary.
That’s a pretty crazy idea for the plot of a movie and is basically the American Pie story flipped around, hence the parallels to American Pie but don’t let that turn you off from checking this out. In fact, if you liked American Pie or any of the teen sex comedies that boomed in the early 2000s like Euro Trip you should get plenty of enjoyment and laughs from this movie. It’s hard to straight out tell someone that they’ll laugh during a comedy film, as comedy is one of the most subjective genres but I’d be surprised if this film doesn’t at least make you laugh out loud once. It’s not the most clever or well-written comedy but all the actors deliver the material with great comedic timing and elevate it beyond being just stupid. It also helps that all the core characters are likeable and relatable to some extent.
Blockers is also about the friendship of the daughters and the instant bond that is formed between their parents so the film has a lot of heart to it and some touching moments throughout all the comedy. So while the film does contain a lot of gross-out humour, it also has plenty of heart which has always been key in making movies like this work as it balances the comedic moments with genuine emotion. There is also a good balance of big and small jokes throughout with memorable one-liners and some crazy scenes which I won’t spoil here. It’s basically a chase film but the insane car chases and action scenes have been replaced with crazy situations and funny scenes as the parents try to stop their daughters. I think it also helps that the film is just under one hour and forty minutes as it keeps the film feeling very consistent throughout with its jokes. It thankfully doesn’t overstay its welcome, as a lot of recent comedy movies that go for two hours or longer usually tend to drag on and struggle to wrap up the story.
As stated before this film really surprised me, I enjoyed it immensely; I liked all the characters and laughed throughout more than I have in quite a long time with a comedy. Most importantly though the film delivers on everything that I wanted it to especially when the parents finally confront their daughters and their dates, it is well executed and very satisfying. It’s also a joy to see the movie flipping the usual clichés attached to this genre which as you can imagine results in quite a few twists and surprises throughout. It is not only satisfying as a comedy film but as a film in general as the story comes full circle at the end. I’ve seen Blockers twice now and based on the audience reactions it seems like I wasn’t the only one highly enjoying the film, as the cinema was full of laughter throughout. So if you’re looking for a fun time at the cinema then grab your group of friends, some popcorn and go check this out.