Review by Jon Donnis
Usually I am not a fan of romantic action comedy films, as they are more often than not terrible, but I liked the trailer for this, and i think highly of Josh Duhamel as an actor so I thought I would check it out.
Tom Fowler (Josh Duhamel) and Darcy Rivera (Jennifer Lopez), along with their families, travel to a private island in the Philippines for their big destination wedding. But just as the couple began to have second thoughts and start arguing, their guests are taken hostage by pirates. The kidnappers demand a ransom of $45 million dollars from Darcy's wealthy father Robert Rivera (Cheech Marin), who refuses to pay until he knew his daughter was safe.
Separated from the wedding party, Tom and Darcy are briefly captured by the pirates but manage to escape, killing several of their captors in the process in some fun and inventive ways. As they try to evade recapture, they also grapple with their doubts about getting married. Eventually they find themselves trapped in a vault beneath the manager's office, Tom ultimately surrendered himself to the pirates so that Darcy could remain hidden.
If I said much more, I would give away too much, so I will leave the general plot at that.
This is one of those films that relies on its cast to do the heavy lifting. Jennifer Coolidge appears in the film as Tom's mother Carol, and along with Cheech, they are the more familiar of the extended cast.
J-Lo is as gorgeous as ever, and they make sure to use her sex appeal plenty in the film, including a funny scene of her in her underpants! That scene is definitely for the men watching!
Josh Duhamel who I already mentioned I regard highly as an actor, does not disappoint and in many ways he is the main character in the film, edging J-Lo out slightly.
There are some light hearted moments, and some nice comedic scenes, they manage to stay on the right side of funny and not resort to sillness.
The bad guys are masked pretty much throughout, so we don't really have a singular bad guy to hate, from the original group of pirates, but there is one guy who is introduced who you will instantly dislike, and for good reason.
All in all a decent film, some nice action scenes, some good funny moments, good cast and a decent if unoriginal script.
The Good
Lopez looks as hot as she ever has, and plays her role in a fun and likeable manner. Josh is great in his part too. Nice to see Cheech get a few good lines, and Jennifer Coolidge is great in everything she appears.
The Bad
Story is pretty unoriginal, and you will spot the big twist a mile off.
Overall
This is a fun, easy to watch film for a Saturday night, curled up on the sofa.
I score Shotgun Wedding (2023) a solid 8/10
Out now on Amazon Prime at https://amzn.to/3Y1caKq
