Meet the Blacks is a 2016 comedy film directed by Deon Taylor, Mike Epps, Gary Owen, Zulay Henao, Lil Duval, and Bresha Webb.  It is a parody of the 2013 film The Purge and follows the Black family gets out of Chicago in hopes of a better life moving to Beverly Hills, but arrive right around the time of the annual purge, when all crime is legal for twelve hours.

Positives:

• Good cast

Negatives:

• Poor performances
• Cheap humor
• Lackluster characters
• Poor dialogue
• Poor direction
• Poor writing

The story follows the Blacks who move to Beverly Hills to escape retaliation from a criminal drug king.  The story is pretty uneventful with no originality to it (although it is a parody). What could have been an interesting story plot was reduced to just stupidity. There is this subplot about how dysfunctional the family is and how it is addressed during the events of the film which do actually make the characters a little bit more likeable.  (2 out of 5)

The characters are all but important.  Carl (Epps), Lorena (Henao), Carl Jr. (Henderson), and Allie (Webb) are a good set of characters that could’ve been likable. Why the hell was Carl Jr. acting like a vampire?  Cronut (Duval) is the most unlikable character. Unfortunately the cheap parody aspect makes the characters stupid.  Larry (Owen) is probably the most over-the-top character. Key Flo (Murphy) was a character that could’ve have a bigger role but the comedy makes him a caricature. (2 out of 5)

The pretty good cast who decent performances. The cast includes Mike Epps, Charlie Murphy, Zulay Henao, Alex Henderson, Bresha Webb, Lil Duval, and Gary Owen as well as George Lopez.  Despite having a lot of talented comedians, they still don’t save the film. No chemistry between Epps and Henao. Epps sucks at the comedic parts but he is a helluva lot better more serious.  However, there is a good cast. (3 out of 5)

Nothing really spectacular about the film although the set pieces are decent. (2 out of 5)

The score is pretty decent.  RZA is a poor actor but he does great when it comes to the music.  (2 out of 5)

The script was complete garbage. There is little-to-no direction the dialogue is poorly written and the jokes are for lack of a better word ridiculous. Every other joke was about racism.  Deon Taylor directing is quite questionable when it comes to this film.   (1 out of 5)

The Verdict:  In the end, Meet the Blacks is not only a bad comedy but it is a terrible movie all around. Despite it being a spoof of another movie there is little to no clever attempt at making good humor, likable characters, or even address any social undertones. This movie is a complete travesty that is easily one of the worst movies of 2016 and probably of all time. Meet the Blacks gets 2 out of 5.