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If there’s anything that keeps this clunky, rather half-heartedly
written comedy going, it’s the always-appealing Ice Cube.
In some respects the big guy is even more charming in this
than he was in XXX 2, which is surprising, because
the blockbuster really needed his magnetism to keep us glued.
In this, he’s just an all-round nice guy who gets ‘his’
at the hands of a couple of ostensibly – they’re
just mixed-up, of course – terrible tykes. If someone
has to be doing such stupid things for the sake of cinema,
let it be the former front man for NWA, if only because we
do love to see the Terminator’s melted down to size.
The look on Cube’s face throughout the entire movie is
worth the price of a rental alone.
Produced by Cube Vision, the rapper-turned-actor’s production
company, Are We There Yet is nothing more than direct-to-video
fodder in multiplex attire. You’ve seen it a dozen times
before, and handled much, much better than this. Still…
there’s a boatload of kid’s flicks that are ten
times worse.
Cube plays Nick, the owner of a sports collectible store,
who takes a shine to Suzanne (Nia Long). Unfortunately, he
hates kids – and she’s got two of the terrors. She’s
off to Vancouver for work, and once there, begins to miss
her kids.
Nick, in an effort to prove he’s got what it takes to
be her man, volunteers to bring the kids to her. He soon wishes
he hadn’t – they spill drink in his pricey new car,
scream, bicker, run from him at any chance, evoke a truck-driver
to run him off the road, and ultimately, play a part in blowing
up the aforesaid automobile.
Sickly, Nick discovers the kids aren’t the happy campers
he thought they were – their dad has started a new family,
and wants nothing to do with them – and begins to (those
airline sick bags can be handy) make friends with them.
Okay, so it’s rather silly, and does get unreasonably
exasperating and unwelcomingly stomach-churning in parts,
but at times Are We There Yet? seems determined to
prove it’s much more than juvenile junk. It doesn’t
quite get there – but it does try.
DVD Extras
Commentaries, deleted scenes, bloopers and more - listed
under that 'special features' button.
Conclusion: Movie 60% Extras: 70%
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