BRIDGET JONES'S BABY REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

In 2001, Renee Zellweger surprised us all with her performance of the title character in Bridget Jones's Diary. With her convincing British accent and great comedic timing, Renee became the perfect Bridget Jones. Many women were able to relate to her because of her imperfections and that's what made her likable. In the 2004 sequel, The Edge Of Reason, we saw more of Bridget and enjoyed watching her make mistakes as that's what makes her human. Some characters in romance and comedies aren't relatable because they're made out to be perfect and always make the right choices which can be boring. However, both films proved to be enjoyable mainly because of Renee and her performance as Bridget.

When the writer of the Bridget Jones books, Helen Fielding, published the third novel in the series, Mad About The Boy, it received mixed reviews. Many were shocked after the writer decided to (*SPOILER FOR MAD ABOUT THE BOY*) kill off Bridget's main love interest, Mark Darcy and leave her with two young infants. When I read the book, I wasn't sure if it would be a successful movie adaptation as this event would cause it to be too dark. I was relieved when it was announced that there was going to be a third Bridget Jones film, the filmmakers decided to focus on Bridget being pregnant and, thus, Bridget Jones's Baby was born (no pun intended). 

It's been 12 years since the release of The Edge Of Reason but, fortunately, that doesn't effect the film. Bridget is back and she's just as funny and quirky as ever. When the film begins, she's celebrating her 43rd birthday alone due to her friends all being too busy being mothers. She is no longer with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) and, as we can see clearly, things are a bit awkward between the two of them after they bump into each other at a memorial service and a christening. Bridget isn't alone for long though because, after her new friend Miranda (Sarah Solemani) takes her to a festival, she soon meets and sleeps with new love interest, Jack Quant (Patrick Dempsey). However, things take a sudden turn when, a week later, Bridget rekindles her relationship with Mark and the two also end up sleeping together. Of course, this leads to Bridget ending up pregnant but the only problem is: who's the father? Is it the charming Jack Quant? Or is it the serious Mark Darcy?

Most sequels are rarely as good as their predecessor but, fortunately, thanks to the return of Sharon Maguire (who directed Diary but not The Edge Of Reason), Bridget Jones's Baby is just as funny as its previous two installments. Almost everyone returns including: Sally Phillips, Shirley Henderson  and James Callis as Bridget's friends, Shazza, Jude and Tom and Gemma Jones and Jim Broadbent as Bridget's parents. However, there is one infamous character missing and that's Hugh Grant's Daniel Cleaver. This is due to Grant opting out of this sequel. He is replaced by Dempsey's even more charming Jack Quant who is more likable than Daniel as he never treats Bridget badly. Emma Thompson gives a memorable performance as Bridget's midwife which isn't surprising considering she co-wrote the screenplay.

There are plenty of funny scenes throughout the film but the one that stands out is definitely the scene when Bridget goes into labour and both Mark and Jack have to carry her to the hospital due to crazy traffic. What makes this the best scene is the sequence when they're trying to squeeze poor Bridget through the revolving door. This film also includes probably one of the best celebrity cameos when Bridget and Miranda meet Ed Sheeran and ask him for a photo.
There is also a really sweet scene where we are shown clips from the previous Bridget films and it makes us remember why she is so popular.

Overall, fans of Bridget Jones will certainly not be disappointed and will probably convince non-fans to give the previous installments a watch. 

7/10
Read my review of Bridget Jones's Diary here.
Read my review of Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason here.