La Cage aux Folles 3: The Wedding (French)

It’s really too bad that we had to head back into the lives of Renato and Albin for this one. The first movie was a total blast and the second was still pretty decent and easy enough to watch, but this third go-around just wasn't fun at all. To be honest, it feels like they only put this together to make a quick buck off the characters’ popularity while they still could. The writing is just plain weak, the repetitive acting starts to get on your nerves after a while, and the whole thing just feels off from the start.

The plot kicks off when our favorite drag queen, Albin, finds out he’s actually in line to get a massive inheritance from a relative he barely knew. He decides to play the part of a "normal" guy and heads to Scotland for the reading of the will. He’s set to get all that cash, but there’s a huge catch: he has to get married and have a kid within 18 months, or every penny goes to his other cousin instead. Albin is obviously floored by this and keeps it a secret from Renato, though Renato eventually figures out what’s going on. Their club is basically broke, and Renato is desperate for that money to save the business, so he tries to talk Albin into just going along with the plan. Albin says absolutely not, so Renato starts faking a serious illness and pulling all sorts of stunts to change his mind. Eventually, they run into a girl who’s at a breaking point and trying to end it all because she’s pregnant and the dad ditched her. As it happens, Albin's cousin starts falling for her too. At first, Albin thinks he’ll just marry the girl himself and give her a cut of the money, but he finally comes to his senses. They decide she’ll marry the cousin, Albin and Renato will finally tie the knot themselves, and everyone will just split the inheritance down the middle. 

I really wanted to like this since I had a good time with the previous movies, but I walked away feeling totally let down by how messy this sequel was. I’m just tired of the acting at this point, and the script felt like it was thrown together on the fly without much thought. Almost nothing in the movie actually held my interest. Usually, you can find at least one or two scenes that make you laugh, but I didn't even chuckle once. Even the maid, who was hilarious in the first two films, felt totally flat here. They tried to squeeze some comedy out of the politician father-in-law character again, but those scenes just didn't land. Even the bit where Albin tries to dress like a man failed to be funny. While the original movie was so clever with how it played with gender and celebrated the queer community, and the second one at least kept the chemistry alive, this third one feels like it was made by people who didn't even want to be there. It’s like they were forced to make a sequel and did the bare minimum to avoid looking homophobic, but you can tell their hearts weren't in it. It’s a pretty boring and dull way to end the series, and honestly, we’d probably all be better off just pretending it doesn't exist.

The movie is a sad and lifeless finale that completely lacks the heart and humor of the originals. (2/10)