Review of Think Like a Man Too (2014) by Patrick L — 18 Oct 2014

"Think Like a Man Too is a cynical cash grab. It is the laziest sequel since The Hangover Part II".

Movie Review: Think Like a Man Too.

Date Viewed: July 5 2014.

Directed By Tim Story (Barbershop, Taxi, Ride Along and Think Like A Man).

Screenplay By David A. Newman and Keith Merryman, Based on the book by Steve Harvey.

Starring: Kevin Hart, Regina Hall, Terrence J,.

Michael Ealy, Gabrielle Union, Jerry Ferrara,.

Romany Malco, Taraji P. Henson, La La Anthony, Meagan Good, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Gary Owen, Jenifer Lewis, Cheryl Hines, Adam Brody, Dennis Haysbert, Jim Piddock, Kelsey Grammer and Wendy Williams.

Here's a sequel everybody was looking forward to. Think Like a Man Too? I know, I know, ridiculous right? The first movie made you forget it was based on Steve Harvey's dating guide book "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man". They wanted it to be a goofy romantic comedy with famous African-American actors. The material was mediocre but the cast is great. With a budget of only 12 million, the first "Think Like a Man" became a huge box office hit grossing 91 million domestically. Now we have "Think Like a Man Too", a lazy and unfunny sequel that doesn't try to do something new.

The couples from the first movie are back and this time their in Las Vegas for the wedding of Candace (Regina Hall) and Michael (Terrence J). The makers of "Think Like a Man Too" obviously took a page from Adam Sandler's movie making playbook, "Let's get the cast of "Think Like a Man" a free trip to Las Vegas and let them have a great time, while the audience gets stuck with a cynical cash grab". "Think Like a Man Too" is barely even a movie, it feels like a 105 minute commercial for Vegas. Kevin Hart is back as Cedric but I'm afraid he has morphed into Chris Tucker from "Rush Hour 2". He screams a lot and he's a fast-talking motormouth who never shuts up. His eccentric character worked in the first film but this time he's just tiresome.

As I said, all the couples from the first movie back but they have to learn everything they learned from the first movie all over again. After they got married, Kristen (Gabrielle Union) wants to have a baby but she thinks that Jeremy (Jerry Ferrara) isn't ready for fatherhood. Even though, Michael and Candace love each other so much, they can't get rid of Loretta (Jenifer Lewis), Michael's overbearing mother. Mya (Meagan Good) is ready to marry Zeke (Romany Malco), he just can't seem to escape from his womanizing past. Dominic (Michael Ealy) and Lauren (Taraji P. Henson) are finally back together after spending some time apart. Dominic is a cook but a chef in Vegas offers him a position that could possibly jump start his career. At the same time, Lauren is offered a huge COO position in New York by her boss Lee Fox (Kelsey Grammer), which means that she will be separated from Dominic. Finally, Bennett (Gary Owen) and his wife Tish (Wendi McLendon-Covey) are trying to get some spark back into their marriage.

The men and the women soon engage in the Battle of the Sexes, a competition of whoever has the most fun in Vegas. Soon the fun is all over when the men and the women fight with male strippers at a strip club. When all of them are thrown in jail, Michael tries to call his mother but she spends the night with Uncle Eddie (Dennis Haysbert). "Think Like a Man Too" is pretty much every other Set-in-Vegas movie we've seen before. Half way through the movie, I kept saying, "MAKE IT STOP!", "MAKE IT STOP!", "MAKE IT STOP!". Screenwriters David A. Newman and Keith Merryman don't take the characters into interesting new directions and they have written a screenplay so artificial and cliched, it could've been made by a committee.

The original "Think Like a Man" was just a standard rom-com but it had a terrific ensemble. "Think Like a Man Too" is just like the first movie but much worse. Rapper Drake has a cameo as well but he's the funniest person in the entire film. When Drake becomes the best part of your movie, you know you're in trouble.

During the screening, I was the only person in the audience. This is the second Tim Story-Kevin Hart movie this year where there was nobody else in the theater but me. It's more convincing evidence that Kevin Hart is not popular in Quebec. All that Hart does in this film is scream at people all the time. Just like with Melissa McCarthy, somebody needs to take control of Kevin Hart. Great director Howard Hawks once said, "A good movie has to have three good scenes and no bad scenes". Well, "Think Like a Man Too" has one good 15-second scene and about 70 bad ones. "Think Like a Man Too" is deritivate, formulaic and really loud.