I Have A Confession To Make: I Hadn’t Seen The Bridget Jones Sequels. Here Are My 11 Thoughts After Finally Watching Them
Almost nine years after having a baby, and nearly 25 years since she started her diary, Bridget Jones is returning to the world in a 2025 movie. As Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy is set to debut for Peacock subscription holders this weekend, Renée Zellweger will be reuniting with fans of that adore Ms. Jones and her antics.
After watching Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy’s trailer, I was reminded how much I actually enjoyed Bridget Jones’s Diary when I first saw it. But seeing as this is the fourth picture in the lot, that reminded me of a deep dark secret: I had never seen either of the previous sequels to one of the best rom-coms known to humanity.
This meant I needed to run through both 2004’s Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and 2016’s Bridget Jones’s Baby in short order. Now that I’ve done just that, there are some things we definitely need to discuss before Movie 4 jumps in front of our eyeballs.
The world has always known that Renée Zellweger is an actor of great accomplishment, but what I think we’ve forgotten over time is just how talented she is in the field of romantic-comedies. Even though I didn’t like either of these sequels nearly as much as Bridget Jones’s Diary, my admiration of Ms. Zellweger’s craft has not waned. Which reminds me, you people need to go watch Down With Love! That’s a vastly underrated gem of hers.
Bridget Didn’t Nearly Deserve The Fat Jokes These Flicks Lob At Her
Oh, I was hoping this would be improved upon in the sequels. My vague remembrance of Bridget Jones’s Diary did include the often cited fat-phobia that’s present in the films based on author Helen Fielding’s creation. The back-to-back cocktail of The Edge of Reason and Bridget Jones’s Baby certainly dug its heels a little deeper into this unfortunate trench.
I Draw The Line At Two Montage Needle Drops, Ms. Jones
In one short “Gotta Get Him Back!” sequence in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason’s final act, we hear three different needle drops. Going from “Everlasting Love” to “You’re the First, the Last, My Everything,” and landing on a “Crazy In Love” finale, it’s a bit much. So unless it’s a longer sequence or there’s more significance besides padding the soundtrack, let’s try to keep the jukebox to two needle drops max in a montage, ok?
How Does Bridget Distrust Mark, But Keep Letting Daniel Play Her For A Sucker?
I’d say 85-90% of the Bridget Jones series involves our modern woman protagonist presuming that Mark is cheating on her. Now I get that a number of factors inspire that, but after The Edge of Reason, Bridget should have realized this man, even after marrying and divorcing someone else in the process, does love her! My guess is because it keeps Mark Darcy in fighting shape since he’s beat the ass of any guy who’s tried to push him aside.
Bridget Should Have Considered Dating Rebecca
Speaking of Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, there’s a reveal towards the end that Rebecca (Jacinda Barrett), the woman thought to be an admirer of Mark, actually fancies her. The two kiss, and Bridget actually doesn’t seem to mind in a very progressive moment for a 2004 rom-com. After seeing that, I think Ms. Jones should have at least considered trying a relationship outside of her heteronormative routine.
Bridget Jones’s Baby Really Doesn’t Feel The Same Without Hugh Grant
Hugh Grant’s reasons for ditching Bridget Jones 3 were absolutely valid, especially in light of my criticism of how Bridget loves to dive into temptation every time she and Mark break up. That being said, the temporary death fake-out was just as awkward as not having Grant’s Daniel Cleaver in the cast. So seeing back for Mad About The Boy makes me rather happy, while also giving me concern.
Mamma Mia Helped This Three-quel Go Into Production, Didn’t It?
Who doesn’t love a rom-com involving a case of uncertain paternity? Seriously, it feels like Mamma Mia’s hit status in 2008 helped get this one onto the board. Which, in turn, must have helped 2018’s Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again come into being eventually. Either way, I’m glad to see Colin Firth working – even at the risk of my own sanity.
Patrick Dempsey And Colin Firth Need To Work Together Again
One of the bright spots of Bridget Jones’s Baby has to be the fact that Mark Dempsey and Colin Firth were a lot of fun to watch as squabbling suitors. Though I still missed Firth’s fights with Hugh Grant from the first two movies, his tussle with the Grey’s Anatomy cast alum was definitely magical. Perhaps they should be a couple in a future rom-com instead of just pretending.
Mark Darcy Should Have Run Off With Dr. Rawlings
I know it’s a moot point by the time we get to Bridget Jones’s Baby, but I’m sorry – Mark and Dr. Rawlings (Emma Thompson) felt like more of a match than he ever did with Bridget. If you’d have ended the story in Bridget Jones’s Diary, then maybe it would have made sense. And trust me, I’m not done arguing that point just yet.
These Sequels Are Awkwardly Topical For Rom-Coms
Bridget Jones’s Diary wasn’t a simple frothy rom-com, as she definitely needed to learn to stand up for herself and stop trusting the wrong man. So for The Edge of Reason to include a ridiculous moment where Bridget giving an entire women’s prison in Thailand wonderbras and chocolate as parting gifts was… a choice.
So was inventing a Pussy Riot facsimile for Mark to defend in court, as well as a storyline involving Bridget’s workplace evolving into a tabloid in Bridget Jones’s Baby. If it was worked better into the plot, I might have dug it, but here we are.
I Kind Of Wish Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy Was The Only Sequel
My final criticism is purely from a plot standpoint, as I know that Helen Fielding’s decision to kill off Mark Darcy was inspired by the untimely death of her own husband. That being said, I really wish that Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy was the only sequel in the group, as this unfortunate real-life twist makes those middle chapters feel unintentionally redundant.
It’d be the rom-com version of Sylvester Stallone’s preferred method for how to watch Rocky, in which you start with the original, and then skip to Rocky Balboa. We get the poignance of Bridget Jones losing Mark Darcy automatically and wouldn’t have to live through her constantly being fat shamed and seduced into farce.
With all of that in mind, I’m still hopeful for Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy. It’s not going to be long before we’re all read into the next chapter of this romantic comedy legacy, as it will be streaming on Peacock starting February 13th. Though if you’re in an international territory, theaters should running the picture the next day.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to re-watch Kingsman: The Secret Service and pretend that Mark Darcy escaped his life to become a super spy. I don’t know how I’ll head canon him to not be a deadbeat dad, but I’ve got time.
