Mike and Dave need Wedding Dates stars Zac Efron, Anna Kendrick, Adam DeVine and Aubrey Plaza follows the story of two brothers (the titular Mike and Dave) who are forced by their parents to bring dates to their sister's wedding in the hopes that it will help the two reel-in their juvenile tendencies that have ruined many family events in the past. Little do they know that the girls they have picked to attend the wedding with them (Alice and Tatiana) are actually worse than they are in many ways, leading to a bunch of crazy events that threaten to ruin the big day.
I actually quite liked this movie, it had a bunch of really funny moments that had me laughing consistently all the way through and even when the jokes didn't land the film's break-neck pacing meant that these moments of weakness were sort of glanced over. The main cast also gelled very well and had a great chemistry on-screen, particularly Kendrick and Plaza who I would genuinely believe were best friends in real life. In saying this I would say the stand-out performance would have to go to Zac Efron who once again impressed me just as much in this effort as he did in Bad Neighbours 2 earlier in the year. His transition from teen-idol to legitimate comedy star is now very much in top-gear, and what he proved here is that he is more than capable of giving a great leading performance and not just a supporting one. I also liked the way the writers tried to give each of these characters more depth in the third act, as it made them more likeable protagonists whom I could really get behind.
However like I say these efforts to give these characters some emotional depth don't come until quite late into the story, so for the most part it is actually quite hard not to be put off by their juvenile and self-destructive antics. On top of this, there are times the filmmakers choose to swap in vulgarity in the place of humour, which quite frankly won't really hit the mark for audiences above the age of 14. Yet what really hurts this film the most for me is its lack of a standout line or moment. I went to see this movie with a friend last week and I've honestly had to rack my brain for a joke or a particularly funny sequence that stuck with me after the first viewing. A top-level comedy will have at least one stand-out moment that you will associate with that film after watching it (eg Bridesmaid's dress shopping sequence or the stoning scene in Life of Brian) and unfortunately Mike and Dave need Wedding Dates did not have one iconic image that will stick with me, thus affecting its rating.
Overall I enjoyed my experience watching Mike and Dave need Wedding Dates. It was a fun comedy which gave me a few laughs and Zac Efron once again impressed me with yet another above-average comedic outing. It's a movie I wouldn't rush out to see in the theatres, but I'd definitely give it a chance if it's on one night on Channel 4.
Score: 7.0/10
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