A secret agent must put her badassery to the test when terrorists descend upon her best friend’s wedding, mending broken bonds and causing funny antics along the way.
The title alone has me groaning, and the trailers didn’t help much. Bride Hard. Sounds… original. I admittedly wasn’t the most enthused about the film from the start. And yet I found myself rather pleasantly surprised. While it definitely isn’t the most original film on the planet, nor is it the funniest, it has a heart to it that makes it really endearing and cute, especially for female viewers who might be a little sick of the “girls trip to hook up with hot guys” plotline that seems to plague chick flick style films. Bride Hard is unique in that its female protagonist is intelligent, humorous, stylish, and a total badass, without having to be “textbook sexy” or having a love interest. Yeah, there’s still plenty of sex jokes and cleavage, but the real beating heart of Bride Hard is in the cliches it pulls from other films, as they add a heartwarming feeling to the overall film that makes you care.
Simon West puts together a professional looking film, with well framed scenes and sequences of action that are enjoyable, even if they’re a tad overused, but I can’t help but feel like the film would’ve fared better with a female director behind the camera. Still, Cece Pleasants and Shaina Steinberg are representative of the ladies, and you can feel it from a script standpoint. The rivalry between women isn’t related to a “hot guy” this time, well, not fully, and the humor is very female centric, with the characters feeling like realistic depictions of women instead of caricatures. I only wish they were more likeable. Outside of the lead, most of the other characters are fairly annoying and flat. But at least the men are the ones who look stupid this time.
Rebel Wilson is absolutely the star of the show here, though. Her lead, Sam, is incredibly well developed and acted in a way that makes her likeable and vulnerable while also being a total kick ass role model. She’s essentially a career driven woman, watching her personal life suffer for her devotion… only she’s a secret agent. Meanwhile, Anna Camp is painfully annoying and a “white girl syndrome” stereotype, which unfortunately drags the film down a few notches. Da’Vine Joy Randolph is a hoot, though, and Justin Hartley plays the bumbling moron character he’s assigned very well. Even Stephen Dorff and his college ruled forehead is great as the villain, even if everyone feels a little less thought out than Sam does.
Stunts are one of the best parts here, too. Choreography is fantastic and Wilson does a ton of her own stunts, which gives the action sequences an authentic feeling that tons of action films tend to lack. Most effects are practical, as well, with explosions and fight scenes that play very well with the film as a whole. Editing, on the other hand, is truly atrocious, with multiple continuity issues and mirroring that feels sloppy at best and immersion breaking at worst.
Fun and entertaining, you can forgive Bride Hard for its unoriginality and dull characters all thanks to Rebel Wilson’s Sam. She’s a great character, and it’s a shame we can’t get a franchise like this for a female protagonist who actually kicks ass instead of chasing it.