Picture this: it’s your wedding day. “The Bridal Chorus” is playing on the organ. You’re in your gorgeous white wedding dress, with your hair and makeup done immaculately. However, you start to get overwhelmed by the wedding jitters, a very common occurrence during a bride or groom’s wedding day, and get cold feet. Now, imagine that the reason for these jitters are because your husband-to-be has a shady past, filled with dead bodies in his wake. A past you are aware of, and were also somewhat part of.
For wanting out of this life filled with blood and money, you ditch your wedding day in fear, anger, and regret. However, after finding out about your escape plan, your husband-to-be sends his surprisingly heavily combat-trained groomsman after you in an effort to make this wedding go through. Not the greatest start to married life, right? This bonkers plot derived from ’80s action movie greatness is the plot of the upcoming action comedy Til Death Do Us Part.
On its surface, Til Death Do Us Part draws a lot of inspiration from past action and horror comedy movies centered around brides. It’s easy to compare it to the likes of Ready or Not, one of the best horror comedy movies of the past decade, based on plot alone, or the slightly similar You’re Next. On top of that, the movie’s main character, Bride (Natalie Burn), draws a lot of inspiration from Tarantino’s The Bride from Kill Bill. While the similarities are apparent, Til Death Do Us Part manages to do enough to stand on its own two feet.
As a whole, Til Death Do Us Part is a bloody good time. Although the movie is certainly not without its flaws, the exhilarating action, over-the-top performances, excellent music choices, and ironically cheesy dialogue result in a modern movie which feels very much rooted as an 80s action flick. For those who love the 80s aesthetic and the previously mentioned films, Til Death Do Us Part is the movie for you.
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To Have and to Hold
Kicking off very much like a Hallmark romantic comedy, with it’s over-the-top romantic score, narration from the best man as he prepares his speech, and some cheesy editing and text. Til Death Do Us Part immediately throws audiences into the seemingly sweet wedding. From there, we cut to the honeymoon of the Bride and Groom (Ser’Darius Blain), as the two spend a lovely time on the beach before dancing the night away in a tropical bar, where they meet a mysterious couple.
Throwing linear storytelling out the window, we then see the Bride driving away from the church as fast as she can, before reaching a very boojie cabin, decked out with neon lighting and a cozy interior design. It isn’t long before a car full of the groomsmen sent to capture the Bride pulls up to the house, looking for ways to get in. Soon, the groomsmen grow tired of looking for an open door or window and begin kicking down doors. The groomsmen have no idea what they are in for, as the Bride begins to take them all out one by one, before coming face to face with her former groom.
“Let’s Dance”
Cinedigm
Til Death Do Us Part’s action is a ton of fun. Each set piece is well choreographed, well shot, and backed up by a pretty surprising soundtrack that enhances the movie’s action. At one point, the Bride kicks ass while Bobby Day’s “Rockin’ Robin” is booming from the record player. Awesome stuff. Natalie Burn thankfully performs her own stunts, which really goes a long way in action movies, and makes these scenes and the characters’ deadliness far more believable.
That said, some of the movie’s editing during the action, and the movie as a whole for that matter, is a little off. This isn’t for the entire movie, however there are some strange cuts and disorienting editing that will take audiences out of the experience.
Here Comes the Bride
Cinedigm
The Bride, much like Beatrix Kiddo from Kill Bill Vol.1, is badass. She throws many high and powerful kicks, rapid punches, a lot of “nut” shots and kills off her attackers in a brutal and creative fashion. Natalie Burn is awesome in the role, enthusing her character with tenacity, ferociousness and truly selling the audience on how deadly she really is, and doing her own fight choreography allowed for a more immersive experience. Big props to Burn.
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Labeling a film as cheesy, depending on who you are and what you’re into, can either be taken as praise or criticism. Sometimes, movies or shows that ooze with cheese are a ton of fun. Hence the film’s comparison to what it so often pays homage to — fun 1980s movies. They don’t take themselves too seriously, allowing audiences to let their hair down and enjoy the madness unfolding on screen, and Til Death Do Us Part is just that. It’s a bonkers, over-the-top fun time.
Cinedigm
On top of that, the movie’s humor works great. Again, it’s riddled with cheesy dialogue that’s self-aware enough to be funny; a character threatening the Bride with “come here kitty” and her responding with “meow” is brilliant stuff. Likewise, the characters don’t take it seriously at all. The Best Man (Cam Gigandet) constantly dances around while spewing out his meticulously prepared Best Man speech which he sadly never got to read. Groomsman Number Four (Orlando Jones) oozes with over-the-top charisma and charm. But perhaps the best is Groomsman Number Seven (Pancho Moler) who delivers some of the funniest and most bonkers lines in the movie.
The performances are larger than life and melodramatic, which actually works in favor with the film. The action and kills are perhaps a little too much, but that is by no means a criticism, and the story is simple and wild.
A Wedding with No Structure
Cinedigm
Sadly, Til Death Do Us Part isn’t without its faults. The aforementioned editing will put some audience members off, but perhaps the biggest criticism is that the movie lacks structure. With Til Death Do Us Part needlessly jumping back and forth with flashbacks or flash forwards, to the point where it’s hard to tell what timeline a current scene exists in, and thus the movie starts to get a little confusing. Audiences won’t know what act of the movie they are in.
With that, many may find themselves pausing the film constantly to see how long is left. This doesn’t mean the film isn’t entertaining or boring; it’s more that as the movie goes on, it’s hard to keep up with where audiences should orient themselves in the timeline, and where it’s going. Likewise, perhaps a two-hour run time doesn’t really work in the movie’s favor. Nonetheless, the silly fun makes up for it.
Til Death Do Us Part releases in select theaters August 4th.
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