Big Momma's House 3

Big Momma's House 3
Director: John Whitesell
Starring: Martin Lawrence, Brandon T Jackson, Jessica Lucas

Inexplicably, Martin Lawrence returns as the police officer Malcolm Turner, who must bring out his undercover alter ego "Big Momma" when his stepson Trent (Brandon T Jackson) witnesses a murder while following his father on a job. The difference this time is that Trent will be going undercover too, as Big Momma's great-niece. The pair hide out in an all-girls' performing arts school, evading their pursuers along the way. The only thing stranger than the fact that this series has become a trilogy is the lowbrow, dreadful humour crammed into the script. The plot goes nowhere and instead, the film contents itself with vulgar jokes, slapstick and the eventual neat conclusion. Lawrence looks tired and resigned to the fact that this is probably as good as it gets unless Will Smith decides to make Bad Boys 3, while Jackson (who really is better than this) plays basically a goofier version of his Tropic Thunder character. Unnecessary, unwelcome and not at all funny, there is nothing here that would even raise a smile in most audiences. Barring a Travolta-like rebirth in independent cinema, it is likely that this shambles will be the final nail in the coffin of the career of a man once touted as The Next Eddie Murphy.

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