Director Simon West, best known for one of the 1990s’ most beloved action films, Con Air, has had a career filled with both hits and misses. While Con Air remains, in my view, his strongest work, he has since delivered a few entertaining yet largely forgettable titles such as The Mechanic and The Expendables 2. Unfortunately, his latest effort—the action-comedy Bride Hard—may be one of his weakest to date. The film arrives on Blu-ray this week.
Pitch Perfect alums Rebel Wilson and Anna Camp reunite in this comedic Die Hard imitation that stumbles on both the humor and the action. Wilson stars as Sam, a rogue secret agent with a habit of ignoring orders and putting her team at risk. After a botched mission—conveniently overlapping with her best friend’s bachelorette party—Sam is forced into a mandatory leave of absence. She decides to spend her downtime attending the wedding of her best friend Betsy (Camp), even though she was replaced as maid-of-honor.
The wedding unfolds at the exclusive Caldwell family estate, a private island located in Savannah, Georgia. The bride, Betsy, is set to marry Ryan Caldwell (Sam Huntington), whose family is super wealthy. His best man and closest friend, Chris (Justin Hartley), quickly catches the attention of Sam. But the celebration takes a dark turn when a group of intruders storm the estate, targeting the family vault and holding the entire wedding party hostage.
As expected, Sam manages to avoid capture and begins eliminating the villains one by one—albeit in the most implausible ways imaginable. Unfortunately, not a single action sequence feels remotely convincing. While Rebel Wilson is capable of being very funny, the material here is uninspired at best. The film boasts a talented cast, including Anna Chlumsky, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Stephen Dorff as the lead antagonist, yet none are given meaningful roles to work with. What results is a predictable, paint-by-numbers action-comedy that fails to deliver on even the basics. Bride Hard is an easy film to skip.
By: Marc Ferman
