Film Review: Meet the Parents: Little Fockers

Meet the Parents was a funny film. Surprisingly for a sequel Meet the Fockers wasn't half bad either. As such, it is understandably tempting to further cash in on the success of the franchise by releasing a third in the series, Meet the Parents: Little Fockers. Unfortunately however they've overshot on this one. Little Fockers scarcely elicits a smirk and not even the addition of Jessica Alba's hotness permits this third incarnation a saving grace.

By now we're probably familiar with Gaylord Focker's (Stiller) ex-CIA and uber-paranoid father-in-law, Jack Byrnes (De Niro). In this outing we are treated to much of the same; Byrnes is still unconvinced that Focker is good enough for his daughter, and suspects he is cheating on her with a work colleague (Alba). Thus, much of the film is about Byrne's attempts to catch Focker in the act, and so ensues the supposed hysterical farce.

There was no need for this film to have been made. The franchise's running joke - the name 'Focker' - stopped being funny after the initial unveiling in the first movie. The entire premise has been used to within a fraction of its life and there is no real way to take it forward. Even the addition of several cameos from various stars couldn't give this film some traction, probably ironically doing more to harm with their convoluting presences than to help it. So tired is the concept that about half way through I just got bored and started fiddling with my iPad.

In every way this film typifies Hollywood's adversity to risk in favour of resuscitating dead corpses in the name of the Greenback. What's more, what the hell has happened to Robert De Niro?! Granted, he hasn't sunk to the lows of Al Pacino quite yet, but comon man! He is arguably one of the finest actors of his generation! Little Fockers is the same shit, with poorer jokes. Avoid.