Blockers Is Like a Good Pixar Film, Something In It For Both Young & Old To Enjoy (Movie Review)
I really hope this goes without saying, but you never know. The worst you can ever do is to assume. So here’s the million dollar question I feel I need to ask before we start legitimately talking about the new comedy film Blockers. You all know what the rooster in front of the word “Blockers” here refers to, right? That title while vulgar would have been so much more what do I want to say…sexy. Not that this movie needs anything else to sell it since the positive word of mouth from last month’s SXSW screening, but clever marketing never hurts. However, I completely understand the PC World (not the magazine title) we all live in and Universal’s primary goal is making sure this one is in as many theaters as possible and of course seats are filled. I think they have a winner on their hands here, but stick around below and I’ll fill y’all in on why I confidently believe so.
Blockers is directed by Kay Cannon off a screenplay by Brian and Jim Kehoe. The film stars Leslie Mann, Ike Barinholtz, John Cena, Kathryn Newton, Graham Phillips, June Diane Raphael, Hannibal Buress and Sarayu Blue. The story follows a trio of parents trying to covertly stop their daughters from having sex on prom night. Hence they are doing what the rooster on the poster implies…”cock” blocking. I’m sorry as there really is no PC way of breaking that down. Ha ha. However, it’s really that simple. The movie title is the flick’s plot in essence.
Now tell me this. Has anyone reading this ever notice the suggestive sexuality of certain text emojis? Take the eggplant emoji for instance. What does that really resemble to you? I’m not going to spell it out or talk about the other ones in detail, but I’m trying to set your minds up in the right train of thought here. That’s kind of what happens here where in Blockers parents stumble upon some suggestive emojis on their daughter’s laptop. Basically it spells out a pact between their daughter’s friends to all lose their virginity on prom night. Select parents of the three girls come together to covertly launch a one-night operation to stop the teenagers from sealing the deal so to speak. Quite honestly I can’t believe it has taken so long to make a movie around that eggplant emoji. Why can’t I ever think of million dollar ideas like this? Ha ha.
So there’s a couple things that sets Blockers apart from the rest of the comedies out there. First off, who can dispute how things are flipped around here. I’m talking about the premise of the horny high school girls. We’re so used to seeing sex crazed guys/boys trying to make it with chicks in a comedy like this. That alone kind of makes this a fresh of breath air for me. Now there’s the young age thing though. I’m in my forties now so it’s increasingly getting harder and harder to identify with the younger generation especially when I wasn’t the partier back in my days and we did not have Internet, cell phones or emojis for that matter. You got to remember I thought I was cool because I wore the Skidz pants back in high school. Heck, Vanilla Ice was even cool back then (shh he still is for me…ha ha) and I wore his hairstyle too. That’s where I’m lucky to have the trio of parents to follow here. While I am not a parent myself I can completely identify with them in their plight to c@$k block their respective daughters. That leads me to the overall chemistry of the cast.
Did they ever pick some good ones here or what? John Cena could very well be the next Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson if he continues to get hands full of Aces like this role. He’s both menacing and completely hilarious in Blockers. Truth be told though the humor in these kind of movies was always going to be there, albeit raunchy at times (never over the top though), but all in all we’re treated to a Judd Apatow-like heartwarming tale. You can’t say you didn’t see that coming after only thirty minutes min or so. That’s okay so Blockers plays it safe. What’s wrong with that? As long as the cast is solid, chemistry is strong and the laughs are plentiful I’ll continue to come back for more. It’s all formula, we’ve all been there and done that. However, it’s the resolve that makes things that much sweeter. Underneath it all Blockers is a heartwarming coming of age story for both the youngsters and the next evolution of steps in parenthood. So I guess you can say like a good Pixar film there’s something for both the old and young here to not only enjoy, but learn from too. The big thing here though is that gender change-up most people will find very welcoming here. It is what it is so just have a good time with it. Enjoy!
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Brian White
Owner/Writer/Reviewer/Editor, Dreamer, Producer, Agent of Love, Film Lover, Writer of Screenplays and a Devoted Apostle to all things Ford Mustangs (the real ones with V8's!). Some of my favorite films include FIGHT CLUB, MOULIN ROUGE, THE DARK KNIGHT, STAR WARS alongside television shows such as SEINFELD, 24, SANFORD & SON and even the often loathed in the geek community BIG BANG THEORY. Outside of my three lives I live I also enjoy spending time with my girlfriend and our three girls (of the furry kind).
