Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel’s wedding day is derailed by the arrival of criminals who take their guests hostage.
Jennifer Lopez’s last two films, Hustlers and Marry Me, were excellent additions to her filmography – but can she pull off three hits in a row?
In her latest movie, Shotgun Wedding, she plays bride Darcy, who is about to get hitched to Tom (Josh Duhamel) on a gorgeous private island in the Philippines.
On the morning of the wedding, she gets cold feet, unsure if she can go through with the ceremony, but before they can sort things out, their nuptials are taken over by mercenaries who take the guests hostage.
Darcy and Tom, who manage to escape, must work together to save their family and friends – and maybe remember why they fell in love in the first place.
Shotgun Wedding, which was filmed in the Dominican Republic, is a romantic comedy action-adventure hybrid like Romancing the Stone or The Lost City.
Darcy and Tom, who are tied together, flee into the jungle in their wedding attire with gun-toting mercenaries hot on their tails and the ensuing cat-and-mouse chase is very amusing.
The film is at its most entertaining with the comedic action set pieces.
Darcy and Tom are just regular people so their attempts to sabotage the professional criminals don’t always go to plan and there’s some fun slapstick comedy involved.
They also create some unintentional carnage and their encounters with the mercenaries get a little bloody.
Outside of these scenes, the film flounders and is never as funny as it needs to be. The screenplay needed to be stronger to keep the story exciting in the non-action moments.
Jennifer Coolidge tries her best to bring the humour to the hostage side of the situation as Tom’s mum Carol but her trademark deadpan style only goes so far.
Lopez wasn’t particularly believable as the panicked Darcy in the beginning, but thankfully, she transforms later on and becomes this kickass heroine, complete with a torn wedding dress, boots, and a shotgun in hand.
She had fun comedic chemistry with Duhamel but they weren’t so effective on the romantic front.
Turning to their supporting cast, Lenny Kravitz also deserves a shout-out as Darcy’s smouldering ex Sean. His character has an entertaining arc and really gets to shine in the final act.
Shotgun Wedding has an exciting concept and moments of brilliance but it’s ultimately very hit-and-miss.
On Prime Video from Friday 27th January.
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