Jakarta. Australian comedian Rebel Wilson, who gained recognition for her role in "Pitch Perfect", is back with another comedy, "Bride Hard". The title might take inspiration from the wildly popular action movie “Die Hard”. Just like “Die Hard”, Wilson’s movie also incorporates some action into the storyline by having the blonde actress play the secret agent Sam.

Directed by Simon West, the story follows Sam being picked as the maid of honor to her childhood friend Betsy (Anna Camp). Betsy is about to marry the son of a billionaire, and a lavish wedding awaits the smiling girl. Betsy has also picked future sister-in-law Virginia (Anna Chumsky), as well as college friends Lydia (Da’vine Joy Randolph), and Zoe (Gigi Zumbado) as the bridesmaids -- thus officially forming the main quintet in the story.

Like any secret agent, Sam has to keep her work a secret from the rest of the gang. The secrecy takes a toll on her decades-long friendship with Betsy, who later stripped Sam of the maid of honor status. After some bestie drama, a group of mercenaries keep the wedding guests hostage as they go after Betsy’s new family’s fortune.

“Bride Hard”, which clocked in at 105 minutes, starts off quite slow. In the script written by Shaina Steinberg, the initial disastrous Paris trip feels painfully unfunny despite the film’s attempt at cracking some jokes here and there. 

One may not want to expect too much from “Bride Hard”, action-wise. It has awful green screen effects, and not much to rave about in terms of the choreography. However, the film made a smart move by playing Geri Halliwell’s “It’s Raining Men” in a kitchen fighting scene. As expected, the main quintet also helped save the day in their own way, despite not being spies themselves.

I was actually keeping my fingers crossed that the film would at least deliver on the comedy. It has been a long time since a female-led American comedy hit the theaters. Luckily, “Bride Hard” did make me laugh hard (no pun intended) at some point, but it took a while before the film could break the audience into laughter.

It was only after the mercenaries hijacked the wedding that “Bride Hard” finally had some humor. The jokes can be a hit or miss, although the funniest lines usually come from Lydia. But the movie is overall lighthearted, and something that you might want to consider after a tough day at work.

While the film has its moments, “Bride Hard” still fails to dethrone the 2011 movie “Bridesmaids” as the best bridesmaid comedy out there. “Bride Hard” is now playing in Indonesian cinemas.

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