Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy is bringing the тιтle character back for a new romance but with a huge difference from the previous movies, as Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) is gone, ending a very specific Darcy tradition – and while this can still continue without him, it really shouldn’t. Joining the trend of reboots and long-awaited sequels that have been dominating the film industry in recent years is the Bridget Jones franchise. Nine years after the release of Bridget Jones’s Baby, Bridget (Renée Zellwegger) is back and is facing the biggest challenge of her life so far.
Based on Helen Fielding’s 2013 novel of the same name, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy reunites viewers with a now-widowed Bridget. Unfortunately, her husband, Mark Darcy, has pᴀssed away, so Bridget is now re-adapting to life as a single mother of two children. With the support of her family and friends, including Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), Bridget enters the world of dating apps and soon finds herself in a new love triangle but with some important differences. Bridget Jones 4 is already different without Darcy, but it’s also breaking a specific tradition that could still continue but shouldn’t.
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy Is The First Without A Mark Darcy Fight
No Darcy, No Fighting
Bridget Jones has had one main love interest throughout her movie series: Mark Darcy, and their story hasn’t always been a love one. Bridget and Mark meet in the first movie at her parents’ New Year party, though he was a childhood acquaintance. However, Mark finds Bridget to be vulgar and foolish, and she calls him arrogant and rude. This is the trigger for Bridget’s resolution to turn her life around, which leads her to date her boss, Daniel Cleaver. Bridget later learns that Daniel and Mark were friends, but Daniel slept with Mark’s wife.
When Daniel makes a drunk visit to Bridget, Mark challenges him on the street and they fight.
Bridget and Mark keep on crossing paths and they eventually develop feelings for each other, and Daniel shows his true colors by cheating on Bridget. When Daniel makes a drunk visit to Bridget, Mark challenges him on the street and they fight. Bridget eventually ends up with Mark, but his fight with Daniel begins a specific tradition. In the sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Mark and Daniel have another fight, despite Bridget and Mark not being together anymore, pretty much like in the first movie.
Bridget Jones’s Baby doesn’t have a Mark/Daniel fight because Daniel is supposedly ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, but it does have Mark and Jack (Patrick Dempsey) in a different type of fight.
This fight takes place in London after Mark returns from Thailand after helping Bridget get out of prison. Mark confronts Daniel outside an art gallery in Kensington Gardens, where they also get into a public fight. Now, the third movie, Bridget Jones’s Baby, doesn’t have a Mark/Daniel fight because Daniel is supposedly ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, but it does have Mark and Jack (Patrick Dempsey) in a different type of fight: one for Bridget’s love as they try to one-up each other. With Mark now ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, there won’t be Mark Darcy fighting with someone over Bridget, but this could still happen with new characters.
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy Can Still Have The Love Interests Fight (But It Shouldn’t)
It’s The Same Story Over & over Again
The trailer for Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy shows that Bridget will be involved in yet another love triangle, but this time without Mark and Daniel. Instead, Bridget is being pursued by Roxster McDuff (Leo Woodall), who is much younger than her, but she also has undeniable chemistry with her son’s science teacher, Scott Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Just by having another love triangle, Mad About The Boy already feels repeтιтive, but the key will be not having the new love interests fight each other.
The trailer shows the moment Bridget meets Roxster, revealing how different he and Scott are and that they are completely unrelated – unlike Mark and Daniel, who used to be friends, and Mark and Jack, who were both Bridget’s Sєxual partners at some point. The new love triangle can be a lot more civil than the previous ones, leaving it up to Bridget to decide who she wants to be with or if she wants to remain single, without the prospects fighting each other for her affection.
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy Is Also Breaking A Daniel Cleaver Tradition
Finally, Daniel Cleaver Has A Different Role
At the end of Bridget Jones’s Baby, it’s revealed that Daniel is alive, so it’s only fair that he returns in Mad About Boy – however, his appearance is also breaking a tradition, as he’s not a love interest this time. Instead, Daniel is now a friend and ally of Bridget, who seems to also be encouraging her to date again and get some action, but he’s also close to her family. At the end of the trailer, Bridget’s son calls him “Uncle Daniel”, hinting at him being a key support system for Bridget after Mark’s pᴀssing.
With Daniel Cleaver out of the love triangle this time and with two very different prospects involved this time, Mad About the Boy can stand out from the previous movies. Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy’s biggest challenge is feeling repeтιтive, but some simple changes can make a huge difference.
