Tyler Perry’s A Madea Homecoming: Review

Tyler Perry’s A Madea Homecoming Synopsis: Madea is back, and she’s not putting up with any nonsense as family drama erupts at her great-grandson’s college graduation celebration.

Like with any iconic cinematic staple, it was only a matter of time before writer, director, and star Tyler Perry revived Madea for the silver screen. Perry’s latest endeavor, A Madea Homecoming, finds the divisive auteur letting loose amidst the less-rigid confines of streaming platforms.

I never quite understood the massive vitriol surrounding the Madea franchise. While Perry certainly overstretched Madea with one too many spin-offs, the core of the material represents a humorous battle between opposing generational sentiments. Homecoming operates at its best when exploring that concept with an infusion of new zeitgeist ideas, including exploring the perspective of an LGTBQ youth and a police officer receiving grief from her family in the aftermath of the George Floyd protests. Perry’s film still features the same brand of crass comedy and pratfalls, but it’s clear the auteur is becoming more sensible with age.

Homecoming reenergizes elements of the Madea brand, yet Perry continues to struggle in certain aspects. His screenplays never balance their playful comedic tone with infusions of saccharine melodrama, with Perry often speechifying intimate moments in an awkward flurry of wooden exchanges. The comedic barbs also remain uneven in execution. For every bitting line, Perry includes several gags that fall flat on their face, including a piece of ill-conceived revisionist history here that rivals the stupidity of the Transformers fighting the Nazis (you’ll have to see it to believe it).

For better and for worse, Homecoming is more of the same from Perry and company. I don’t think this effort packs enough laughs to sustain its runtime, but it’s agreeable enough to make a decent streaming diversion for fans of the Madea franchise.

Tyler Perry’s A Madea Homecoming is now playing on Netflix.