Publisher: Kamurai June 23, 2021
Really good watch, would watch again, and can recommend. This is a remake of the 2007 "Death at a Funeral" which was English where as this is the black / american version. Personally, this was very large shoes to fill only 3 years after the original. Surprisingly, the movie is almost beat for beat the original, and they even got Peter Dinklage to reprise the same role (apparently a rare thing to do in the industry), which begs why they didn't get Alan Tudyk, also American, to reprise his role (and my fav from the original). James Marsden tries to put his personal spin on it, but it does look like he is very much imitating Tudyk for the most part. Luke Wilson replaces the Scottish role, being the only other white actor which says more about how the English take to the Scots as out of sorts than anything. It's a stupid thing: the whole world should get along better. This is an awesome cast: Zoe Saldana, Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Danny Glover (probably my favorite in this one), Tracey Morgan, Kevin Hart, and Keith David. And they're all fantastic, even the people I'm less familiar with were on point. So I do give this version points for better casting and bigger personalities. The movie is a little brighter, a little more fun with the characters, but it's still the same great, funny story. I wouldn't blame you for watching one over the other, but I still like the original better, mostly for Alan Tudyk.