The Gang heads off to their annual marriage retreat, while they battle old demons. Terry and Diane are seemingly fine on the outside, but Dianne is mysteriously dressing up and doing different things. Tasha and Marcus are up to their same old antics, bickering like crazy. Tasha is convinced Marcus is cheating at work because he won't give her the pass to his cellphone. Sheila and Troy are having financial issues. Troy is too prideful to let Sheila help him, which makes Sheila tempted to reconnect with an uninvited guest, Mike. Troy gets very jealous over Mike wanting Sheila back. Meanwhile, Gavin and Patricia remain cold and distant with each other. I tend to ramble in my reviews and I don't know when to stop sometimes. This review is gonna be all over the place, but what else is new? This sequel was completely unnecessary in almost every way! That being said, I really had a good time with it at the same time. Tyler Perry has taken the melodrama up a notch or two, filling it with OTT, but intense drama. The relationships were still rocky, but semi-fixed at the end of the first one, leaving things firmly established. Making a sequel was a risky thing to do, but Tyler did very well with it for the most part. Tyler has a penchant for being overly preachy, but keeps it to a minimum here. It's an entertaining, at times, harrowing look at marriage. It's also a good look at relationships in general. Perry manages to effectively combine humor and drama and succeed most of the time. I did have a few issues with this movie, so I'll get to that. The dialog gets a little clichéd at times. I can't count how many times I heard "Girl" when one of the female characters spoke. I also disliked Sheila and Troy's issues. It felt rather contrived to me, and turned out somewhat inconsequential in the end. Lamman Rucker (Troy) and Jill Scott (Sheila) are both very good in their roles, though. There are four major story lines and it's difficult to give them the same amount of time to develop. Tyler tries his hardest, but he can't quite pull it off. It's especially noticeable with Gavin and Patricia's storyline. I was really into their problems and they didn't really focus on them a lot until the second half. Their storyline really hit home to me. It was powerful and riveting stuff. The scene where Gavin gets drunk and acts crazy towards Patricia was memorable. The conclusion to their storyline was very heartbreaking. Malik Yoba gives quite a performance as the disheartened husband. Janet Jackson is efficient for the most part. Angela and Marcus steal the show on many occasions with their hilarious arguing. Obviously Tyler knew this and made a show around them. (For Better or Worse) Things get really silly at times, though. (Angela starts firing a gun in their bedroom when she thinks Marcus is sleeping with another woman!) Tasha Smith's actions are insane and deplorable, but I couldn't help but crack up her antics. Michael Jai White continues to prove he's not just another action star with his flamboyant showcase. The least effective storyline is between Terry and Dianne. Their problems are effective, but a bit too subtle at times. it was realistic and entertaining, though. Tyler Perry is his usual solid self. Sharon Leal is good as well. Richard T. Jones has more depth to his character this time. He's not just a slime ball anymore. He's still a smug jerk, but surprisingly vulnerable too. His character had an interesting spin on it. The Rock shows up at the end and has an awesome cameo! I literally clapped at his appearance. These movies reminded me why I don't wanna get married. People forget why they fall in love and the romance seems to stop. Marriage is something that is supposed to be for good. Too many people take advantage of it. Some marriages are just not fixable. This is a very entertaining sequel, all issues aside. Tyler Perry is an underrated talent and there aren't too many of his movies that I dislike. His haters are moronic and don't give his movies the credit they deserve. His heart and his passion is clearly evident and I appreciate that. If you liked the first, you'll enjoy this one! 7.3/10

There are movies that can inspire, make us dreamers, believers, advocates and activists. Movies that can make us feel young and transport us to places where our imaginations can take flight. Then there are travesties, calamities outright catastrophes catapulting our imaginations into absolute train wrecks. In the case of Tyler Perry's "Why Did I get Married Too?" (2010) its an 747 nose diving into a train wreck adjacent to a firework factory with a daycare center.I had a rough outline of what I was going to discuss for my first helping of Perry. I was going to go into a half-serious discussion on the plight of African-American movie makers and the unfair criticisms lobbed at Tyler Perry and his brand of comedy. Perhaps I could have made a few poignant remarks on the positive representation of African-American family life portrayed in his films and the underlying morality that permeates all of Perry's big-screen efforts...but no. This movie deserves no high-minded discussions or watered-down socio-economic pandering. This movie sucks plain and simple.The clunky first act fakes you into a false sense of security. There was nothing particularly loathsome about it; Corny, stilted dialogue awkward staging, bad acting, nothing worth face-palming over. But after the three couples (and the awkward divorced dude) get back home, things get "Days of Our Lives" meets "Jerry Springer" and we, the audience are struck by septic tanks brimming with excrement passing for emotional drama. Literally everything is thrown at you at once: suspicions of infidelity, alcoholism, divorce, unemployment, cancer; the film is an evil twin brother and a murder mystery away from an Agatha Christie novel. In a regular melodrama about family, marriage and divorce its kosher to throw things like dinner plates around when things get heated, but to humiliate someone in front of their co-workers with a pink-haired male stripper popping out of a fake cake, now that's a Tyler Perry movie!Watching the final scene where the character Patricia (Janet Jackson) meets Dwayne the Rock Johnson a year after being an accessory to the death of her husband (via male pink-haired stripper) was the final crotch punch in this assault and battery of a film. The false assumption that she, or anyone in the film was the least bit sympathetic is simply unreal. As a result I am seriously considering this film to join the ranks of the worst I have ever seen.Just how bad is it? Here is a list of things I would rather do than watch this movie ever again. 1. Watch "The Pirates of Penzance" being performed by a school of deaf children. 2. Be the back end of a thirty person human centipede. 3. Walk down Harlem at night with a glow in the dark spandex suit of the Confederate Flag. 4. Spend the day with Larry the Cable Guy. 5. Vote for Rick Santorum. 6. Watch all seven seasons of "The Gilmore Girls". 7. Do all the stunts from Jackass 3 (2010). 8. Go streaking across the stage of "Jeopardy" while yelling "Who is Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn". 9. Hang upside down for the length of the entire "Lord of the Rings" trilogy (directors cut). 10. Have to listen to "Party in the U.S.A." by Miley Cyrus and ONLY that song for the rest of my life.You think I'm joking? Just try to get me to watch this celluloid pox on our houses again and you bet I'll be "moving my hips like yeah".http://theyservepopcorninhell.blogspot.com/

I am usually not a fan of Tyler Perry. For one thing, if you've seen one of his movies, you've pretty much seen them all. They often revolve around an aging plot of over the top dysfunctional relationships that somehow work themselves out by the end of the movie. Most of his movies also includes the Madea subplot, which usually is out of synchronization with the rest of the movie.Why Did I Get Married Too shows Perry's potential as a legitimate screenplay writer when he let's go of his overrated Madea act. Married Too feels like it belongs on the big screen, whereas other films produced and directed by Perry feel like plays adapted for the movies. It could be that the whole Madea act, while I must admit is often very funny, is just too over the top and unbelievable for some of the serious material he tries to mix it with. Stevie Wonder could see Madea is just a man in a fat suit! It could also be the more colorful beach scenes that add flavor to this film, whereas most of his other films are set mostly in Atlanta or some other urban area. With those films, you only get mediocre set pieces with generic pictures of the city backdrop thrown in just to let you know where the story takes place. It's rather boring, and the whole thing with Atlanta as the main setting for his films is getting rather old. Just like M. Night Shyamalan and his affinity to write his story lines in and around Philadelphia, it shows a laziness to screenplay writing and providing the viewer with a different experience. We know that you lived in Atlanta at the time of your big break, Tyler. And trust me, I understand if you don't know one thing about other urban areas. However, let me point out that the great screenplay writers go out and do their research on other locations and other details of a storyline in order to be more diverse in what they offer the viewer. Perry will never get past the black community as his base viewership or his core fans if he doesn't change things up. John Singleton, F. Gary Gary and even Spike Lee understand this.Anyway, once again, Perry relies on star power to camouflage his lack of depth as a screenplay writer and director. Married Too has a nice cast that includes Janet Jackson, Jill Scott, Malik Yoba, Tasha Smith, Michael Jai White, Cicely Tyson, Lou Gossette Jr., Dwayne Johnson and Tyler Perry minus Madea.The reason I give it such a high rating is because unlike most of Perry's films most of the performances and scenarios weren't over the top and the problems the couples faced here seem reasonable. It's hard to mix comedy and drama in the same film. Perry has tried it in the past, but he's not at all good at it. However, he does a good job in this film. Comedy is kept in check here, while drama takes the front seat. With his other films, the drama elements are often overshadowed by the Madea routine and her shenanigans.This film also stood out because unlike most movies, it doesn't have a sappy, "all bad things turn out good" ending. I love the two main plot twists in the movie. They were totally unexpected.Could this movie have been better? Yes. Do I still recommend it? Yes. Now, if we will get more effort out of Perry in his future movies remains to be seen. Let's hope so. Tyler Perry has an excellent opportunity that other people of color in the film industry don't. Please be more responsible and creative with this opportunity.

Why Did I Get Married? was a brilliant character film that was some of the best emotional performances I've ever seen. I definitely would not consider it the type of film to warrant a sequel but no one said Tyler Perry was a man who stays within the 'norm'. I suppose when you have a cast of characters with so much strength and you become so attached to that it would make sense you'd want to visit them again. Why Did I Get Married too? basically works off the identical premise as the first (if it ain't broke...) but they take the setting to a tropical location, and add in even more breakneck emotion because this one has a bit of a different tone than the original. Whereas the first one dealt with some very dramatic moments I found the sequel to be much darker and less humorous. That isn't to say that the film doesn't have the same unique comedy and style that Tyler Perry is known for but the film does dig a little deeper into the darker side of relationships.The entire original cast returns and writer, director and star Tyler Perry also returns. I think some of the cast and their characters changes very little and I think sort of rehashes the original and others take their characters to a whole new level. Perry and his on screen partner Sharon Leal are two that I didn't feel changed all that much and while they deal with new issues in their relationship, especially parenthood, they are the least interesting on the cast. Jill Scott and her new partner (they got together in the first film) Lamman Rucker are terrific together. Scott was so great in the first film and went through so much and it is great to see how her story continues and one of the main plots in the film focuses on her and her dirtbag ex-husband played by Richard T. Jones who is terrific once again. Tasha Smith returns as the drama queen exaggerated Angela. Although I felt like they toned down her character significantly she is still wild and untamed and hilarious as if her on screen husband the always shell shocked but passionate Michael Jai White as Marcus. The performances to watch though in this film that truly save it from being a bit of a mundane sequel into being a superb and excellent film. The incredible Janet Jackson gives a brutally perfect Oscar worthy performance as therapist Patricia. She definitely has some truly big things happen in this film and gives a gut wrenchingly sad performance. Urban Legend has it that she received word of her real life brother (Michael Jackson's) death during filming and used that for true emotion. Her on screen husband Gavin played by Malik Yoba plays opposite her with truly great passion and talent. Both of them are just outstanding.Many reviewers on IMDb have a lot of negative things to say about this film and not all of it is undeserved. Some of the comedy in this sequel does feel awkwardly placed and given some of the over the top dramatic moments it is hard to put the same level of Tyler Perry like comedy into it. But I look at it like this how many times can a successful sequel to a drama be made and not find it just a big re-hash of the original? I think Perry should be given kudos for being able to create a film that at least is entertaining and nearly as good as the original. No matter how you cut it if you loved the first film as much as I did (and I don't know how you couldn't because it is a MUST see) then you'll simply have to see the second one because you'll want to see your characters come to life again and I'd see a third one too!! 8/10