REVIEW: 'WHY DID I GET MARRIED TOO?'

SYNOPSIS & DEVELOPMENT

Gathering for their annual couples retreat, where they ask the question 'Why Did I Get Married?', four couples take a trip to the Bahamas, where the problems and secrets within their marriages are revealed and brought to the light.

For Terry (Tyler Perry) and Dianne (Sharon Leal), this means facing the hurdle of the emotional affair that she is having with a co-worker, while Angela (Tasha Smith) struggles with trusting her husband Marcus (Michael Jai White), a task that is only heighten by his refusal to provide her with the password to his phone.

Affected by the move from Colorado to Atlanta, as well as, a new baby, Troy (Lamman Rucker) and Shelia (Jill Scott) are conquering the burden of managing their finances, and Troy begins to question his manhood and place the blame on his wife for not being able to find a job. Matters are only made worse for the couple when her ex-husband Mike (Richard T. Jones), who is battling cancer, crashes the trip and aims to win back the woman he lost.

Like most Perry productions, these are issues that you can safely assume will eventually work themselves out and end happily, but when Patricia (Janet Jackson) and Gavin (Malik Yoba), who always have the solution for everyone else, use the getaway to announce they are getting a divorce, the two are embroiled a messy divorce that comes to a destructive conclusion.

PERFORMANCES

The film's strongest asset comes into play with the cast, who are completely believable as group of friends. In fact, the interaction shared between them feels so genuine, that you are taken back to similar gatherings with your friends.

Still, the obvious highlight is Janet Jackson, who turns in an emotionally-charged performance that surprises you in more ways than one. Filmed in the months surrounding her brother's death, you feel her pain and grief pouring through the screen, a feat that not only touches your heart, but also makes you realize that you may have given Jackson less credit than she deserved as an actress.

Tasha Smith, who plays Angela and was an immense delight in the first feature, is quite the opposite in this film as she becomes nothing more than a continuation of the stereotypical black woman that she played in the first film.

It's not the fact that Perry places a character of this magnitude in every one of his productions or the lack of growth displayed within her character that are the issues here, but rather the fact that none of her jokes seem natural and that it all comes across as Smith grabbing for laughs as oppose to them being handed to her.

Aside from that, Perry is also unbelievable as Terry, given his delivery in movies where he plays any character other than his alter-ego Madea, always seems to take a path reminiscent of the gun-shooting diva.

DIRECTION & VISUAL

Directed by Perry, who has directed all of his films expect 'Diary of a Mad Black Woman', he struggles with making transitions and things don't flow as smoothly as they would if he invested in a director with the proper experience.

He deserves credit for shouldering so many duties (actor, writer, producer and director), but by delivering such mediocre performances with each task, one has to point out that maybe Perry should limit the number of caps he wears.

FINAL VERDICT

With the original film in 2007, Perry delivered what still stands as his best work, the script and characters were well-developed, and it relied less on his wild writing antics and more on trying to get its point across.

Here, however, Perry erases all of the personal growth the characters acquired throughout the first feature and they relapse back into their old patterns, only to leave the audience feeling cheated, which is the consistent result of his films.

Ending with a cliffhanger that leads you to believe a third film may surface, he plays it safe and even when he tries to stir the pot, it's a move that you already saw coming and to put it simply, 'Married Too' is worth watching for one reason only, the incredible performance supplied by Janet Jackson.

3 out of 5

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