Left Wing Critics Destroy Daddy’s Home 2

You probably might have seen this one coming, but even before the movie is halfway out the gate, I don’t think anyone could have predicted that ‘critics’ with a giant political axe to grind would have gone this far.  A look at its rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and Daddy’s Home 2 has been destroyed.

It has gotten a bunch of negative reviews.  Many of them are coming in from ‘critics’, who, if they combined their traffic and readership would not come close to matching ours – yet they get to have a disproportionate influence on movies.

But not to digress further… Daddy’s Home 2 was always going to be a target of these people, because it’s a movie that firstly features Mel Gibson.  Second, it’s a movie that derides girlie men and effete fatherhood.

SUSAN GRANGER

First, we have one from Susan Granger.

… it may have seemed like a good idea to make bad-boy Mel Gibson a crass, cynical, sexist, former astronaut but, since Hollywood’s now beseiged by sexual harassment and assault scandals, he comes across as simply repugnant.

So, presumably, they shouldn’t have released the movie, even though it was filmed before Hollywood became beseiged (sic) with sexual harassment claims.  But wait.  Susan ain’t done.  Hey guys, what about those anti-semitic rants!

Back in 2006, Gibson made headlines with an anti-Semitic rant during a second DUI arrest and, in 2011, pleaded no contest to battery against a girlfriend. So it’s not amusing when Kurt regales his grandchildren: “Hey, kids, I’ve got one for you…Two dead hookers wash up on the shore…”

So I suppose the Current YearTM is not applicable here?

DAVID JENKINS

Moving on, (little) known social justice warrior David Jenkins, who literally gushes over Soviet propaganda movies, takes umbrage with right-wing characters, gun ownership etc.

Mel Gibson is stunt cast as Dusty’s old man, a volcanic douchenozzle a glinting, right wing relic from the 1950s who gets his kicks from goosing blondes, being sickened by anything that might be construed as “gay”, and consistently promoting the necessity of American gun ownership.

Apparently if you’re right-wing these days, you’re a ‘relic’, despite the fact that the majority of the world’s population would be described as ‘right wing’.  Again, a handful of people from a handful of countries believe their own viewpoints to be superior and more enlightened than all of humanity’s.

MOVIEFREAK

Moving on, Sarah Michelle Fetters at MovieFreak has a problem with girlie men who exhibit too much estrogen-driven behavior in movies being the butt of jokes.  In such a movie, she says, that type of thing makes the viewing experience a ‘slog’.

Why do we have yet another comedy where the idea of males being affectionate or showing emotion is supposed to be funny? Why are we playing up so many unctuous gender stereotypes that proclaim anything even slightly feminine is to be looked down upon or ridiculed? Why is it supposed to be cute that forty-something man-children can behave like such bratty imbeciles?

Preach it, Comrade Fetters!  To be honest, these reviews are starting to get funny.

CHICAGO SUN TIMES

Meanwhile over at the Chicago Sun Times, they’ve also given it a negative review.  But apparently not on its lack of entertainment merit, but rather because the people in the movie didn’t agree with the reviewer’s far-left ideals;

With the possible exception of one female character who is relegated to the deep background as the middle-aged and sixtysomething Boys-to-Men hog the spotlight with their increasingly feeble and childish antics

So let’s get this right… in a movie about a bunch of Daddies, men then, the reviewer is pissed that females aren’t front and center.  Was he also pissed that ‘Bad Moms’ featured more females than males?  Who wants to be bet no?

CINEMALOGUE

Next, Cinemalogue wants you to keep an eye out for the ‘hate and misogyny’, noting that there is…

…plenty of hate to go around. The result overdoses on testosterone-fueled misogyny with a barrage of slapstick gags that feels strained and predictable.

The ‘review’ is one paragraph long, shorter in fact that a typical synopsis for many movies.

CULTURED VULTURES

For this next review, Danielle Solzman of ‘Cultured Vultures’ (first I’ve heard of it, too) warns you that the movie is no good, because Mel Gibson is in it.

To say that Mel Gibson single-handedly ruins Daddy’s Home 2 would be an understatement

Oh and, Mr. Gibson said some things 11 years ago.  Therefore you’d better not watch this movie.

 It’s as if the filmmakers decided to cast Gibson, who was arrested following a drunken anti-Semitic tirade in 2006, only to make him as uncomfortable as possible. Gibson has no business being in this film, let alone still being allowed to work in the industry. What he did was unforgivable.

THE AISLE SEAT

And over at The Aisle Seat, the reviewer also shits on the movie, because, well, he doesn’t like one of the actors.

Maybe you can separate his work onscreen from his personal baggage, but I no longer can. At least not in a family-oriented movie. This is a frivolous holiday comedy, yet right in the middle of it is a man who has made vile racist and anti-Semitic remarks

In the review, he says it himself, that Gibson’s appearance is bad enough to not recommend the movie, by himself.

CONSEQUENCEOFSOUND

In another review, ConsequenceOfSound opened their review with the following

What’s Mel Gibson doing in movies again? After deciding collectively as a culture to disavow a guy who’s said that “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world” and who threatened his ex-wife with racially insensitive threats of sexual assault,

You can probably draw your own conclusion on what was going on there, since it was another negative review.  With that opening sentence, another axe-grinder.

CHEAPSKATEFAMILY

In yet another negative review, CheapSkateFamily apparently cannot separate their own extremist views from light hearted entertainment.

The lazy writing, prevalent sexism, and disappointing stereotypes about masculinity from the first ‘Daddy’s Home’ film return for this sequel, which taps the same well for even unfunnier returns.

Actually, this might be the most hilarious review of them all.  It laments the…

…sexually themed situations and humor, including the mention of sideboob and discussions about womanizing and marital infidelity; demeaning comments and jokes about divorced families, stepparents, and homosexuality

And also goes on to whine about commentary on gun control, the use of the word ‘snowflake’ and the appearance of masculinity as a ‘trope’.  In fact, it’s less a movie review and more of a student political screed.

PASTEMAGAZINE

Elsewhere, PasteMagazine informs you that there is fun to be had in Daddy’s Home 2, however you should not watch it because, you guessed it…

…all joy and light can hardly compensate for the black hole that is Mel Gibson, making his first big return to a studio picture by playing a womanizing, conservative, misogynistic, homophobic dinosaur who looks like a fallow corn husk due to decades of alcoholism and encourages his prepubescent grandson to sexually assault girls on whom he has crushes.

Mel Gibson is in it!  Therefore you must boycott and reflect on whether or not you have ‘progressed’ towards agreeing with the reviewer’s political beliefs.  Odd.

COMMONSENSEMEDIA

This next review, again, seems to take umbrage with Mel Gibson and masculinity.  They say that the movie offers…

…iffy messages about sex and gender roles: Mel Gibson’s character is presented as a “stud” who effortlessly attracts women half or even a third of his age; they seem happy to have no-strings-attached sex with him. Viewers also hear about him bedding two women at once

The writer, who professes to extol ‘common sense’, decries a male-orientated movie for focusing on males;

 female characters are given short shrift compared to male ones. Violence is played for laughs but is surprisingly strong: A chainsaw almost decapitates a man, snow tubers cartwheel down a mountain, and a young girl accidentally shoots her grandpa in the shoulder before killing two wild turkeys

Sounds fun!

So there you have it.  Politically-slanted reviews.  And actually, there are a ton more.  More than I realized, in fact once I started writing this article I didn’t realize there’d be so many.  And it’s just the same old shit.  But on the upside, these reviews have totally sold this movie to me!  And I know they probably will for people who read this site.

Maybe the most laughable though, a comment from CNN in their (negative) review of the movie… ‘Gibson isn’t exactly known for his comedy chops‘…

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