Director: Calmatic
Writers: Jamal Olori, Stephen Glover
Stars: Jacob Latimore, Tosin Cole, LeBron James, Kid Cudi
Synopsis: From New Line Cinema comes your VIP ticket into the hottest event of the year: “House Party,” the remix to the fan-favorite ’90s classic.
From the very minute Calmatic’s House Party starts, there’s a glimmer of hope. The old New Line Cinema logo appears to signal how this movie will throwback to Reginald Hudlin’s 1990 original. And while there are a few callbacks to that film, the 2023 version also impressively stands on its own as a modern reimagining of House Party. However, by doing so, the filmmakers strip the sole thing that made the original great in favor of extensive physical comedy and crass jokes that don’t work.
The first House Party is a masterpiece. It keeps its celebration simple, while focusing on the characters that populate its world. That’s why, when Kid n’ Play (Christopher Reid and Christopher Martin) dance off against Sydney (Tisha Campbell) and Sharane (A.J. Johnson), there’s a sense of spontaneity in their dance, and in the way the sequence is shot and choreographed. It naturally feels exuberant and fun to watch, and it’s part of the reason why the film is so significant.
The sequels weren’t so great because they forgot to keep everything simple. It was all about “bigger” and “better,” and it wasn’t so much better. Given the signal of the original logo, you’d think that Calmatic understands that the best House Party is the one that starts out “small,” and gets more rowdy as the celebration reaches the middle of the night. But he immediately wants to make it over-the-top by having their protagonists, Kevin (Jacob Latimore) and Damon (Tosin Cole) host their party at LeBron James’ house. That means that there will surely be massive cameos from high-profile celebrities, including, of course, LeBron himself.
LeBron’s house is, obviously, massive, which means that their party isn’t small, or simple. It needs to be as flashy and epic as possible, which hinders any attempt at reimagining what made the original great in a way that celebrates and expands upon it.
There are too many scenes in which the focus is on the scope of the party, rather than the characters themselves. Here’s Vic (DC Young Fly) smoking weed with Lena Waithe and a puppet Koala (in this case, practical effects are far more effective than CGI), who then goes on an attack rampage when Damon gets beaten up by the film’s bullies. Calmatic retains two things from Hudlin’s original: the bullies and the dance-off, and both of them aren’t very good. First, the bullies don’t possess Full Force’s comedic skills (the writing is also pretty terrible, but that’s another problem), especially regarding physical comedy. Plus, They’re nowhere near as quick-witted as Full Force.
Secondly, the dance-off misses the boat on why the 1990 film’s version was so special. Instead of, again, keeping it simple, Tinashe shows up and starts to dance with the protagonist. That removes any attempt at capturing the essence and exuberance of the 1990 film’s dance battle, even if that includes inserting Kid ‘n Play’s famous kick step. Speaking of Kid n’ Play, in behind the scenes videos of the movie, Calmatic explained that “You can’t have a House Party without Kid ‘n Play.” While that may be true, the way he integrates Kid ‘n Play into the story may be the most eye-rolling cameo of the year.
In actuality, the ending of this movie comes out of nowhere. I won’t spoil it, but whoever thought it was funny should never make a film ever again. It renders the whole experience completely offensive, and strips away everything that made the first film so great in favor of gross-out jokes, shock humor, and badly delivered lines that reference our current era instead of something as smart and quick-witted as the original House Party, and, to some extent, its sequel. While imperfect, House Party 2 still managed to convey a positive message by the film’s end, compared to whatever happened in its subsequent sequels. As much as House Party (2023) wants to celebrate the House Party (1990), it’s as mean-spirited as House Party 3 and House Party 4: Down to the Last Minute. And that’s not something you want to compare your film to.
Grade: D+
