Giù le mani dalle nostre figlie

I'll be honest, I knew about this movie months in advance, and the preview made it look terrible. Then, on top of this, whenever I watched tv, ads for this movie would run during the commercials, and they were insufferable. I thought this movie was going to be absolute garbage(because that's what the previews made it out to be) and was kind of annoyed when my friends picked this of all movies to see. The theatre was almost empty, even though it was only day 2 of it being out. I'm guessing everyone else saw the ads and decided not to see it.

Anyway, to my utmost surprise, the movie actually turned out to be quite decent. I laughed throughout the movie. And it actually did have somewhat of a plot, and it was original humour, as opposed to the cheap sex and weed jokes that I expected it to be from watching the previews.

It's a shame. I feel that because they ran so many terrible ads for this movie that a lot of people will never get to experience this movie.

Blockers is a relatively newer R rated comedy, released in 2018 and having making somewhat of a profit (although perhaps the studios thought it would be bigger). The comedy in this film is as in which we have seen before, from these type of teen sex comedies. A lot of jokes were quite predictable and just weren't funny. The premise is good decent as it is gender opposite and makes sense in a way, but overall the comedy just wasn't funny.

The cast was good, John Cena as the over protective father was perhaps the highlight. Other than that, the film is predictable in the end, with somewhat of a sequel type ending. However, this film probably won't end up getting a sequel due to it not being that big of a success. And perhaps its for the best.

Honestly, I went to see this movie to kill some time. To see a bit of a mindless, sophomoric, escapism comedy. And although it did have these things and some jokes didn't land as well as others, it was so much more than that. There some pretty funny moments, several unexpected funny moments that caught me by surprise, and a whole lot of heart that actually built character and moved the plot forward more than I expected. It was still a comedy at heart, but there were some sincere, touching moments that helped the film instead of hindering it. It masterfully touches on parenting today and what it means to be an independent person as you mature as a young adult in both in your sexuality and in other ways. I'd say more of a 7.5/10 but as far as I know can only rate in full numbers

As a movie fan, I don't care for "genre movies" - meaning, in general, any project done just because authors imagine this kind of thing being hot right now.

As a rule, such efforts lack depth because they rely on cliches but rarely concentrate on fleshing out the world and characters which are the basic building blocks of decent storytelling.

As a result, I don't usually watch musicals, superhero stories, or computer animations... but I still like raunchy comedies. Not that I have high hopes for them, it's just a guilty pleasure.

"Blockers" falls into the latter category so if this kind of thing is not your cup of tea, you can stop reading now. Watching this wouldn't change your mind about sex, genitalia, bodily fluid, or partying related jokes.

Having said that, "Blockers" feels like one of the best raunchy mainstream comedies around. Definitely one of my favorites since the current wave was kickstarted by Judd Apatow's "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" in 2005.

I mentioned the legendary comedy screenwriter-director-producer on purpose. Here we have one of the more successful attempts to use Apatow's particular blend of entertainment to a great effect.

You know - dirty jokes but also a lot of heart, laid-back stories about everyday people, improvisational but strong dialogue, enough room to let everyone's personal charm shine through.

Apatow's formula has been around for a while now - finding a thankful audience with the short-lived cult series "Freaks and Geeks", gaining worldwide attention with "Virgin". But there's only few comedies that have managed to use it to such a good effect as "Blockers".

It's even cooler that the successful imitators are not comedy pros or Apatow veterans but (judging by their IMDb's resumes) relatively inexperienced screenwriting brothers Brian and Jim Kehoe. Plus the director is a woman, called Kay Connon.

I don't consider myself biased but women's efforts to helm modern raunchy comedies don't seem too encouraging, as witnessed in "Rough Night" and "Bad Moms 2", two recent examples that just suck.

Connon, on the other hand, has experience with the genre, having co-written the whole of "Pitch Perfect" trilogy. And her achievement as a first time director is denifinitely a noteworthy one. "Blockers" is just chock full of committed and charming performances. This is always a sign of good director because memorable performances rarely just happen, even in the best of times.

I am not mainly talking about the three leads (Leslie Mann, Ike Barinholtz, John Cena) as parents on a mission to cockblock their youngsters' prom night sexcapades. The overall coolness of the big cast is something to savour, including Miles Robbins who feels like a second coming of Russell Brand in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall".

The compatibility and impeccable comic timing of every major player is just great. Special shout out should go to John Cena - who knew that WWE star could be such an asset in comedy, and not in supporting role as used to, but as one of the leads.

Traditionally, the "Apatow formula's" weakness has been lack of strikingly interesting story which often brings an overreliance on mediocre dialogue.

"Blockers's" story is not that interesting either - and some section could be shorter, such as teenagers in hotel - but the result works even when it gets corny, offering enough energy and inspired mayhem to be worth of genre fan's time.

All in all, "Blockers" kind of reminds me of "Step Brothers", one of my modern comedy favourites from 2008. The story is not the strong point and suffers from staying "middle of the road", lacking the one great punch which would raise it to the leagues of insta-classics. But the result is greater than sum of its parts, and the charm of the cast puts it a league of its own.

There's one thing that I'm a bit sad about though. The trailers make it seem like a mindless mainstream offering although the movie is slower and a bit more thoughtful than usual.

If possible, please watch "Blockers" itself first and trailers later, otherwise you may feel that you have seen all the stand-out bits already, which may make you miss out on how nice the movie feels as a whole.

If you would have told me 5 years ago that I would enjoy a movie where John Cena butt chugs a beer, I would have been shocked that you made such a specific accusation, but then probably agreed with you. Aside from its moments of corniness and absurdity, Blockers accomplished its goal of getting a few good laughs out of me. The coming of age plot hidden behind our adult protagonists was charming.