Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boyis bringing the title character back for a new romance but with a huge difference from the previous movies, as Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) is gone, ending a very specific Darcy tradition – and while this can still continue without him, it really shouldn’t. Joining the trend of reboots and long-awaited sequels that have been dominating the film industry in recent years is theBridget Jonesfranchise. Nine years after the release ofBridget Jones’s Baby, Bridget (Renée Zellwegger) is back and is facing the biggest challenge of her life so far.
Based on Helen Fielding’s 2013 novel of the same name,Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boyreunites viewers with a now-widowed Bridget. Unfortunately, her husband,Mark Darcy, has passed away, so Bridget is now re-adapting to life as a single mother of two children. With the support of her family and friends, including Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), Bridget enters the world of dating apps and soon finds herself in a new love triangle but with some important differences.Bridget Jones 4is already different without Darcy, but it’s also breaking a specific tradition that could still continue but shouldn’t.
No Darcy, No Fighting
Bridget Jones has had one main love interest throughout her movie series: Mark Darcy, and their story hasn’t always been a love one. Bridget and Mark meet in the first movie at her parents’ New Year party, though he was a childhood acquaintance. However, Mark finds Bridget to be vulgar and foolish, and she calls him arrogant and rude. This is the trigger for Bridget’s resolution to turn her life around, which leads her to date her boss, Daniel Cleaver. Bridget later learns that Daniel and Mark were friends, but Daniel slept with Mark’s wife.
When Daniel makes a drunk visit to Bridget, Mark challenges him on the street and they fight.
Bridget and Mark keep on crossing paths and they eventually develop feelings for each other, and Daniel shows his true colors by cheating on Bridget. When Daniel makes a drunk visit to Bridget, Mark challenges him on the street and they fight. Bridget eventually ends up with Mark, but his fight with Daniel begins a specific tradition.In the sequel,Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Mark and Daniel have another fight, despite Bridget and Mark not being together anymore, pretty much like in the first movie.
Bridget Jones’s Babydoesn’t have a Mark/Daniel fight because Daniel is supposedly dead, but it does have Mark and Jack (Patrick Dempsey) in a different type of fight.
This fight takes place in London after Mark returns from Thailand after helping Bridget get out of prison. Mark confronts Daniel outside an art gallery in Kensington Gardens, where they also get into a public fight. Now, the third movie,Bridget Jones’s Baby, doesn’t have a Mark/Daniel fight because Daniel is supposedly dead, but it does have Mark and Jack (Patrick Dempsey) in a different type of fight: one for Bridget’s love as they try to one-up each other.With Mark now dead, there won’t be Mark Darcy fighting with someone over Bridget, but this could still happen with new characters.
It’s The Same Story Over & over Again
Thetrailer forBridget Jones: Mad About The Boyshows that Bridget will be involved in yet another love triangle, but this time without Mark and Daniel. Instead,Bridget is being pursued by Roxster McDuff (Leo Woodall), who is much younger than her, butshe also has undeniable chemistry with her son’s science teacher, Scott Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Just by having another love triangle,Mad About The Boyalready feels repetitive, but the key will be not having the new love interests fight each other.
The trailer shows the moment Bridget meets Roxster, revealing how different he and Scott are and that they are completely unrelated – unlike Mark and Daniel, who used to be friends, and Mark and Jack, who were both Bridget’s sexual partners at some point.The new love triangle can be a lot more civil than the previous ones, leaving it up to Bridget to decide who she wants to be with or if she wants to remain single, without the prospects fighting each other for her affection.
Finally, Daniel Cleaver Has A Different Role
At the end ofBridget Jones’s Baby, it’s revealed that Daniel is alive, so it’s only fair that he returns inMad About Boy– however, his appearance is also breaking a tradition, as he’s not a love interest this time. Instead,Daniel is now a friend and ally of Bridget, who seems to also be encouraging her to date again and get some action, but he’s also close to her family. At the end of the trailer, Bridget’s son calls him “Uncle Daniel”, hinting at him being a key support system for Bridget after Mark’s passing.
With Daniel Cleaver out of the love triangle this time and with two very different prospects involved this time,Mad About the Boycan stand out from the previous movies.Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy’s biggest challenge is feeling repetitive, but some simple changes can make a huge difference.
