The point? There isn’t one, the fire alarm ringing and the whole scene then a distant memory, hopefully like this third sequel so none of the execs get the idea for a fourth one. Through a speech that would make the writers of Beverly Hills Cop faint in dismay, Lawrence not only manages to keep the young, slender model from disrobing, he ends up on that table, fat suit and all. On the other side, we have Lawrence forced to do nude modeling, attempting to keep his son’s cover in a life drawing class. Actually, he could, but then where would all of the musical numbers and romantic shenanigans come from? Yes, Big Mommas is taking a cue from High School Musical, the arts college primed for a plethora of contrived sequences as Jackson is forced to sing, and shocking no one, manages to display his talents for a new girlfriend. So, father and son both don the fat suits, because Lawrence couldn’t just walk into the school, say he’s FBI, and carry out his investigation in a day or two… or wait. Jackson and father into an all-girls school, because where else would you hide something like that? Unbelievably, there’s a second MacGuffin too, a rap contract Jackson’s character needs his father to sign, the only reason he gets trapped in this undercover operation in the first place. As fate would have it, that USB MacGuffin takes the young Brandon T.
Like Father Like Son forces its way into bringing a second person into this utterly needless charade, as a group of Russian gangsters (who are named Vlad and Dmitri, so you know they’re Russian) track down a USB flash drive full of evidence. More or less, the prior two were thinly connected crime thrillers with some awkward moments tossed in to make the impossible cover Lawrence walks around in more complicated. The original Big Momma at least has a stupid, contrived charm to it. Martin Lawrence in a fat suit in 3D? Shudder at that thought.
At least no one tried to peg movie goers for a 3D experience. In an era of direct-to-video sequels, you would expect someone to shovel a third entry to this “franchise” into the home market, but no. Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son was actually released theatrically.