Director Jason Moore has jumped to the action comedy arena from his previous work on Pitch Perfect and Sisters which feels loosely like the Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum vehicle The Lost City. Both films have great action sequences, wonderful comedy situations, and tons of thrills. With Shotgun Wedding, the R rating gives it more stakes and the ability to explore more of its action and terror, while still being a story about love at its core. Plus, it's easy to see how much fun the cast had in the tropics making this movie, especially with Coolidge on set.
Shotgun Wedding starts out like almost every other romantic comedy in the world where a couple has invited both of their families to a tropical island destination wedding with the appropriate wacky characters. Darcy and Tom (Lopez and Duhamel) are in love and are trying to make their DIY wedding perfect. Sure they come from opposite backgrounds and have different views, but they love each other at the end of the day. Right before the wedding ceremony, they have a big falling out where it seems they will no longer get married, which is when a band of vicious pirates storms the resort, shoot people and take everyone hostage in lieu of a ransom from Darcy's father (Cheech Marin). Somehow, the tied up Darcy and Tom manage to escape their captors separat from everyone and try and save the day and kill the bad guys to great comedic effect with some fun explosions and even some nasty blood and guts.
Jason Moore manages to add a few twists and turns along the way that keeps the film feeling fresh and original that will no doubt surprise most people. Lopez and Duhamel turn in great performances and manage to deliver that action-star quality along with their comedic chops. And of course, Lopez is as beautiful as ever here. But it's Jennifer Coolidge who steals the show every moment she's on-screen as Tom's mother who just brings every shade of joy and comedy to each minute of screen time. The pirates themselves always have masks on and are never given any depth other than that they're evil and looking for money, but that doesn't matter, since the movie takes some unexpected turns.
Shotgun Wedding is a surprisingly great time and mixes the action genre with the romantic comedy elements perfectly. Its R rating gives the film some grit and stakes as well, which is not the usual formula for Jennifer Lopez films. This one is definitely Recommended.
