Coming back just a few short years later, Ice Cube sets his third film in the Friday franchise at Christmastime. It’s a fun shift in the franchise, which also shifts locations yet again to a low-end strip mall where Craig and his cousin Day-Day work as security guards. But Cube is yet again tackling the script by himself and bringing on a first-time filmmaker to bring the film to life, this time through music video director Marcus Raboy. We had problems with those choices in his last film, Next Friday. Will we have the same ones this time? Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we wrap up our Friday franchise series with Raboy’s 2002 film Friday After Next.
We talk about the improvements this film makes over its predecessor, even if they’re not huge, like the better fleshed out characters and the more interesting villain. To that end, we also talk about the abundance of villains in this film and how many of them just don’t work that well because they’re not developed, particularly the Santa Claus hoodlum. We look at what Mike Epps is bringing to the table as Day-Day here and why he works much better than he did in the last film. We chat about the position that films like this have in context of bigger discussions today – the me too movement, jokes about rape and homosexuality, even “I can’t breathe” – and what that means for their longevity.
It’s a film with problems, but better jokes than the previous film. It’s fair-to-middling, but still a fun end to the franchise for now. We have fun talking about it, so check it out then tune in! The Next Reel – when the movie ends, our conversation begins.
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