MADEA’S FAMILY REUNION
Family drama and lowbrow comedy demand an adults-only home viewing.
Should You Watch It?
Tyler Perry's sequel balances lowbrow comedy featuring Madea and her lazy brother, Joe, with serious family drama. The formula is less successful here, and the drama can feel overwrought. The source review also saw an early cut, so editing changes might help.
The movie does offer a strong Christian worldview and teaches dignity, modesty, family, and the importance of education. But its Christian characters do not always behave in Christian ways, and its serious subject matter includes wife beating and disturbing discussion of incest and pedophilia. Plenty of light foul language adds to the concerns.
For your family, wait to watch this at home, and reserve it for discerning adults.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESMadea is court ordered to care for Nikki, a rebellious runaway. At the same time, Madea's niece Lisa is preparing to marry Carlos, her wealthy live-in boyfriend, while Lisa's mother pressures her to go through with the marriage.
Lisa's sister Vanessa is an unwed mother with two children. When Frankie begins courting Vanessa, tensions within the family rise and long-hidden trouble threatens both sisters.
Is It Any Good?
Two stars means this is an uneven film whose formula does not fully work. The movie moves between Madea's lowbrow comedy and serious, overwrought family drama, and the contrast is less successful than in the first Madea movie.
The source review notes that an early cut was screened, so editing changes might improve the finished film. Its strongest elements are the moral themes and Christian worldview, but the entertainment itself remains inconsistent.
The Worldview
The film presents a strong Christian worldview through wedding vows and moral teaching about family, dignity, modesty, decency, and improving one's mind through education. It also values family responsibility and rebukes some destructive choices, including young men playing dice for money.
At the same time, some characters who identify as Christian behave irreverently and pridefully for comic effect, while others are serious, sincere, and humble. Madea's solutions to problems are not always Christian, so the film's moral framework is mixed in practice even when its stated values are strong.
Near the end, Cicely Tyson gives a stirring speech about the degradation of Black Christian culture by today's immoral, pagan society. The same pattern, the source review notes, has affected all ethnic cultures in developed nations, including white-majority cultures.
The film's longing is for family dignity, healing, and a better way to live. Scripture says, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Psalm 133:1).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Strong Christian worldview includes strong Christian wedding vows with strong moral content about family, dignity, modesty, decency, and the importance of getting an education and improving your mind, but mixed in with some irreverent humor (including humor about passing gas) and attitudes that seem a bit antinomian, including some self-identified Christian characters act irreverently and prideful for comic effect and others are serious, sincere and humble; 28 light obscenities (mostly "h" words), 12 light profanities, and jokes about passing gas; strong and emotionally disturbing violence such as man slaps his fiancée hard several times, sassy woman threatens people with violence and spanks misbehaving child with flimsy strap that's played for laughs, man abusively squeezes woman's thigh and arm, woman throws hot grits on abusive man and beats his back with a frying pan, and women fight; some sexual references include man takes off woman's nightgown in the morning where he has arranged a bath and an actual musical quartet with women playing the instruments, engaged couple lives and sleeps together, old men leer at girls in tight outfits, disturbing but not salacious talk about a case of incest and pedophilia, male strip dancer takes off his shirt but he is stopped before taking anything else off, unmarried woman invites male stripper over to her house to finish his dance; upper male nudity and women in skimpy outfits; alcohol use; smoking and joke about marijuana; and, miscellaneous elements include issues of divorce and unwed parents, plus young men play dice for money, which is rebuked.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The film values dignity and modesty. How can your family honor those values in the way you speak, dress, and treat others?
Philippians 4:8 · 1 Timothy 2:9–10The story includes domestic abuse and pressure within a family. What does Scripture say about how people with power should treat those under their care?
Ephesians 5:25 · Colossians 3:19The film emphasizes family and education. How can learning and growing in wisdom help us serve God and others?
Proverbs 1:5 · Luke 2:52Some characters identify as Christian but behave irreverently or pridefully. Why should a person's conduct match his or her confession of faith?
James 1:22 · Titus 2:7–8The Final Word
This uneven film has worthwhile Christian values, but its serious subject matter and language make it unsuitable for children and young teens. Watch only at home, where discerning adults can control the experience. WAIT FOR HOME — ADULTS ONLY. For another choice, see.
