The citizens of a Beverly Hills harbor their own dirty secrets while they “Meet the Blacks”, on the day of a frightening tradition. Carl (Mike Epps), Lorena (Zulay Henao) and family in tow, are getting out of Chicago in hopes of a better life. After Carl comes into some unexpected funds that leaves the Black family with some major life-changing decisions, he takes his family and leaves the hustling lifestyle behind for something better. The parents move son Carl Jr (Alex Henderson), daughter Allie Black (Bresha Webb) and cousin Cronut (Lil Duval) up and out to Beverly Hills. In hopes of beautiful landscapes and safer neighborhoods, the Blacks arrive to find some wild surprises in their unusual neighborhood inhabbitants. Turns out, Carl couldn’t have picked a worse time to move. They arrive right around the time of the annual purge, when all crime is legal for twelve hours. Over one wild and unpredictable night, Carl is a witness to violent and often silly hijinks that has him missing the simplicity of their old neighborhood. All in a struggle to save the ones he loves from a racially insensitive neighborhood. “Meet the Blacks” is rated R for Language, violence, Sexual material and drug use.
Once a movie series has become as popular as “The Purge” has in this instance, it becomes a spoof of itself. Usually this is done with a comedic touch that squeezes out every last drop of originality from the series, rendering it funny before compelling. “Meet the Blacks” is the newest example of this, but i commend this screenplay for at least trying to bring us something different. With the exception of a couple scenes made to look like their original counterparts, most of the movie is done with an original touch to these series of films, often coming up with their own funny ideas to provide to the gag itself. This idea of racial tensions in a dominant white neighborhood is a Purge movie that practically writes itself. If this film took itself more seriously, I could’ve definitely seen this movie succeeding as an original chapter to the Purge legacy. Where the screenplay loses me, is in its repetition to the setup. By the second act of the film, you feel force fed the same formula over and over again with the antagonists for the movie, and it left me reaching for my watch during a brief 85 minute film. Quite often, parts of the storyline are put on pause for bits that sometimes go on for a little too long.
That brings me to the comedic material for the film. To say I didn’t laugh in this movie would be a major lie. I laughed on more than a couple occasions, but what’s strange is that Mike Epps had very little to do with those results. By now, Epps schtick has gotten quite predictable. That’s not to say that he isn’t good in a movie like this, but it’s clear that the movie needs him as the straight man during the second act, so the funny focus isn’t always on him. This film isn’t quite as predictably dull as Marlon Wayans “Fifty Shades of Black” earlier this year, but the material feels tired before it even starts, often reaching for the black Vs white comparison humor far too often. Where I found my laughs was in a memorable character from “Next Friday” who makes a triumphant return in this film. I don’t want to spoil anything, but this character is given far more screen time, and there’s just something about his accent in the movie that always had me reaching for the gut, even if what he said wasn’t intended to be funny. His precise comedic timing made the most of many scenes that had me bored due to repetition.
The movie showcases a lot of cameos, and for the most part they suffer from the same damaging fate that “Zoolander 2” suffered from earlier this year; appearances just for the sake of appearing. Most of these celebrities have very little too do in this thinly constructed plot, so their appearances are often for a couple of minutes before falling into the same trap as the previous one. If the film took a little more time to outline a plan to make the most of their comedy, the movie could go even further when it comes to memorable spoof appearances like the ones in “Scary Movie”. The starring cast doesn’t really offer anything special in the form of personality. Duval isn’t terrible as the supporting prison humor to Epps blue collar worker. The two form a nice blend of chemistry between them, but their humor sometimes feels overshadowed by the jumbled progression of plot that I mentioned earlier. I know that complaining about things like these in a spoof movie might seem a little ridiculous, but I feel that even spoofs have to shining examples for themselves, or the already overdone genre serves no purpose.
“Meet the Blacks” misses more times than not, but when it does succeed, it makes this quick sit a little more tolerable. As to where most spoof films stick between an array of sex jokes, Epps and company do what they can to make the most of an unoriginal idea. For that I commend them. If the film had a little more ambition, this would serve as more than just a spoof of, and instead settle for another branch on the growing Purge tree.
4/10