Movie Review: Bridget Jones's Baby

In Bridget Jones's Baby, our beloved Bridget has split up with Mark Darcy for some years now. She has a career she's proud of but once again she's single. The movie starts with a nod to Bridget Jones's Diary, as the opening scene is a shot of Bridget celebrating her birthday alone whilst playing the song "All By Myself". A classic which I immediately associate with Bridget Jones, even after all this time. If I for some reason need to remind you which scene it is, or if you just want to see it again because, let's face it, it's a great scene, you can watch it here.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason was released in 2004, so now, twelve years later we get the new instalment in the series. I have to admit, I'm a huge Bridget Jones fan. The first film remains my favourite because blue soup, the "it's raining men" fight and the line "I like you very much, just as you are" in combination with the social commentary are what made that movie perfect to me. And of course the fact that it's a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice doesn't hurt. Bridget is not your typical romantic heroine, she actually feels real and relatable. It is one of my favourite movies of all time and it forever will remain so. As a teenager I used to watch Bridget Jones's Diary obsessively over and over again (I did that with all my favourite films, by the way, I'm crazy like that :p ). It's thus fair to say that I'm emotionally attached to the characters and get nostalgia feeling to the movies and books by even just listening to "It's Raining Men", "All By Myself", "I Believe in a Thing Called Love", "I'm Every Woman" and so many more!

Therefore this movie had big shoes to fill. One of the biggest differences in relation to the previous movies is the absence of Hugh Grant's Daniel Cleaver. I didn't particularly mind that because I never liked that character much anyway but it did change the dynamics of the movie though. Patrick Dempsey and Colin Firth fight for Bridget's heart and baby in this one, but Dempsey's Jack is never as awful to Bridget as Daniel used to be. The only thing I missed about Daniel were his epic fights with Mark! :p

A fantastic addition is Emma Thompson, amazing (as always) as Dr. Rawlings, Bridget's doctor. Every time Thompson is on screen, she steals the scene. Dr. Rawlings is absolutely hilarious! Ed Sheeran makes an appearance as himself which was entertaining as Bridget didn't recognize him at all. She still has clueless moments, though not as frequently as in the previous films.

Bridget gets pregnant after spending a night with Jack and a week later a night with Mark Darcy. She does not know who the father is and the entire plot of the movie is about how those three characters deal with that. At first, I didn't think this cliché plot would work. They could have chosen something much more original for Bridget to deal with. The social commentary of the first movie is absent here. However I still really enjoyed Bridget Jones's Baby. 

In its own right it's one of the best romantic comedies of recent years. It's funny, romantic, charming and a pleasure to return to some of my favourite characters. I immensely enjoyed myself despite the cliché plot. This movie actually made me cry with laughter, not once, but multiple times, which is a rare occurrence for me.

Is it as good as the first one? No. But sequels rarely are, in my opinion. As I said before, Bridget Jones's Baby is still better than so many other rom-coms out there and I highly recommend you go see it if you haven't already! You will surely be entertained!

Note: I do recommend to watch the previous films as you will be more familiar with the characters and their history but you don't need to. It is possible to watch this film without prior knowledge of the previous ones, although you will be missing out on those!

Are you a Bridget Jones fan? Are you planning to go see this film or have you already done so? Leave your thoughts down below!