Review of The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015) by Preston L — 03 Sep 2015

The sequel to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, follows the cast of the original, a group of elderly british people living in a hotel in India. The plot is split amongst the various cast members and their individual stories. Some looking for love, some looking for happiness, some looking for acceptance, etc.

Things I Liked:

The Cast. Hosting some of the finest actors ever to grace the screen this movie's strongest element is its cast. Dames Judi Dench and Maggie Smith both give fantastic performances as well as Dev Patel, Richard Gere, Bill Nighy and the rest of the ensemble really sell all their characters and the movie is better for it.

Setting. The setting is beautiful. They should make more movies in India because there are elements there that just can't be replicated or found elsewhere in the world. The architecture, the landscape, the colors, the styles of clothing, all work together and make a series of fantastic pictures.

Things I Didn't Like:

The Plots. There are about 7 different stories going on throughout this movie and it takes a long time to resolve them all. The get dragged out and make the movie longer than it needs to be. And some of them feel like they were only added because the characters needed something to do. The stories are not completely interesting the whole time and by the end you only really care about a few outcomes.

Overall. Overall the movie is enjoyable. There are laughs there are heartfelt moments. The issue is that they try to put in too many. And while the cast all bring fun and interesting performances, the movie feels crowded and overly stuffed with characters, situations, and you start checking your watch to see how much longer the film will go on. That being said I still found the movie enjoyable and fun.