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New Release Birb: Blockers

Blockers
Starring: John Cena and Leslie Mann
Directed By Kay Cannon
US Release Date: April 6th, 2018
My First Viewing: April 4th, 2018

 John Cena, Leslie Mann, and Ike Barinholtz are on a mission to stop their teenage daughters from going through with their planned prom night sex pact in Blockers, directed by Kay Cannon (in her directorial debut). 

 Julie, Kayla, and Sam (Kathryn Newton, Geraldine Viswanathan, and Gideon Aldon) have been best friends since the first day of elementary school. Now they are ending high school and decide that on prom night that they want to lose their virginity. When Julie's mom Lisa (Mann) finds Julie's emoji-filled text live stream on her laptop, Kayla's father Mitchell (Cena), and Lisa try and decipher the codes until the text #sexpact2018 pops up on the screen. While Lisa and Mitchell want to do what they can to stop it, Sam's father Hunter (Barinholtz) doesn't want to interfere. From there it's a race against time to run whatever interference they can to make sure this sex pact doesn't happen. 

 The idea of a film about teens losing their virginity over prom or before they go off to college is not a new idea. Movies like American Pie, Superbad, and Sixteen Candles have run this into the ground (you'll notice the easter egg of a Sixteen Candles poster in one of the teen rooms). However, this is a twist on that because most of the film is from the perspective of the parents, which is a refreshing take on this genre. It is also helped along with a quick-wit script and great performances from the three adult leads, with the standout of the movie being Cena. 

 John Cena, best known for being the "you can't see me" guy in WWE, has made a name for himself in comedic roles in Sisters and Trainwreck. However, this being his first starring role in a comedy shows that much like fellow WWE superstar Dave Bautista in the Guardians movies shows that he has comedic chops to where he could be a leading man.

 This is a sweet film about self-discovery and love wrapped in an R rated comedy. Save for a couple scenes (you will never look at a beer bong the same way again), it shows restraint in how raunchy it could have been. Kay Cannon (who wrote the Pitch Perfect trilogy), knows how to do funny without having to resort to the obvious. Blockers can join the ranks of the string of good R rated comedies of the last year with Game Night and Girls Trip, and is an overall enjoyable movie-going experience. 

 Blockers is rated R for strong sexual content, graphic nudity, language, and drug and alcohol content. What are your thoughts? Follow me on twitter and facebook and leave your comments. Also, check out my previous posts and if you like what you read and want to join the #birbarmy, check out my Patreon. 
-birb 

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