By 2016, Movie Fans had the opportunity to see the mad black woman known as Madea put her unique personal stamp on, among other situations, a family reunion, jail, a witness protection program and Christmas. But how will she make it through a wild and wacky Halloween? "Tyler Perry's Boo! A Madea Halloween" (PG-13, 1:43) answers that question in typical Madea fashion – her way! Actor, producer, director, screenwriter, playwright, author, and songwriter Tyler Perry's most famous and enduring character is rough around the edges, but the old lady is just being herself – and doing what she thinks is right. Mabel "Madea" Simmons gets through life the best she can, no matter what anyone else thinks about her, and she's going make the people around her act right – with insults and by force, if necessary.
Madea (Perry) is the aunt of Atlanta attorney Brian Simmons (also played by Perry), who is newly divorced and has his hands full with his rebellious and disrespectful 17-year-old daughter, Tiffany (Diamond White). Tiffany's friends (Bella Thorne and Lexy Panterra) are planning to go to a nearby college fraternity's Halloween party and Tiffany wants to sneak out of the house to join them, along with her reluctant friend, Aday (Liza Koshy), who is sleeping over. Brian gets wind of the plan, but he has to go out of town, so he bribes Madea to spend the night in his house to make sure the girls stay out of trouble. Madea shows up at Brian's with her cantankerous brother (Brian's dad), Joe (Perry again), her marijuana-smoking cousin, Aunt Bam (Cassi Davis), and their meek friend, Hattie (Patrice Lovely).
Tiffany comes up with a plan to outsmart "the old people" (as she derisively refers to them) and sneak away to go to the party. Madea soon realizes that Tiffany and Aday are gone, so she gathers her posse (except for Joe, who decides to hold down the fort) and crashes the party looking for the two girls. She doesn't find them, but manages to ruin the party. The president of the frat (Yousef Erakat) wants to get even, but you have to get out of your coffin pretty early in the morning to fool Madea, and there's a scary price to pay for even trying. Besides the theme of the party, the Halloween angle comes in with Aunt Bam stealing candy from trick-or-treaters and various characters taking advantage of the spooky nature of the holiday to formulate their plans to fool others and get what they want out of the evening.
"Tyler Perry's Boo! A Madea Halloween" is a typically silly and fun Madea adventure
with some life lessons thrown in. Madea and her contemporaries are exaggerated stereotypes, not to be taken seriously, which gives the audience permission to just sit back, relax and enjoy the on-screen antics. Perry's script contains a few good jokes, but most of the humor comes from his direction and the actors' performances – namely, the way the characters speak and act towards each other – and the Halloween backdrop gives everyone plenty to work with. Brian is a loving and earnest, but ineffective dad, until the directness of Madea and her crew helps him see things a little differently. It all makes for another enjoyable Madea outing that stands on its own merits. "B"
