‘House Party’ Review: Calmatic’s Feature-Film Debut Reboot Is Overshadowed By The Original

Valerie Complex
·4 min read
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Why? It’s a question I ask myself when I watch reboots and remakes of older films. Whether I like them or not, I always ask why. Why was this rebooted? Why was it remade? And then I look for any details about the film that help it stand on its own. I found no answers to those questions while watching Calmatic’s House Party reboot.

As one of my favorite films growing up, I think about the things I really liked about the 1990 version of House Party. Not only was it a lot of fun, but it was intelligent and had some subtle but effective social commentary. The 2023 version, written by Jamal Olori and Stephen Glover, is just a slapstick comedy, with boneheaded characters and a narrative so incomprehensible I often forgot what I was watching.

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The film takes place in Los Angeles and follows childhood friends Kevin (Jacob Latimore) and Damon (Tosin Cole), whose goal is to throw the biggest party in the city. From the beginning, the goal is to gain fame and make money. Kevin is a music producer and single father living with his parents. Damon is a stoner/slacker who lives with his aunt and has no real goals except get money, get girls, and flex for the ‘gram (show off on Instagram). He’s a party promoter being pursued by a group of three violent buffoons called the Young Threats (played by Allen Maldonado, Melvin Gregg and Rotimi) who want something that Damon stole.

Kevin and Damon work for a corporate house-cleaning company, a job they are promptly fired from for recklessness and smoking weed on the job. Now jobless and broke, they decide to explore a house they’re cleaning only to find they are in the home of famed basketball player LeBron James (his production company SpringHill Entertainment happens to be the film’s producer). Without regard for the law or common sense, these two numbskulls get the bright idea of throwing a house party right there. They have access to his personal contacts and start reaching out to friends and celebrities, hoping to turn a profit large enough to bring them out of poverty and make them the biggest party promoters in the city — while not trying not to get arrested or killed in the process.

Injecting aspects of social media, clout-chasing culture and old-school music into an updated feature does not add spin, depth or perspective to a reboot. What separates the 2023 version from the 1990 version starring hip-hop artist Christopher “Kid” Martin and Christopher “Play” Reid is intelligence. Kid and Play’s characters liked to dance and have fun, talk to girls and came from middle-class homes. The only stakes were getting home before bedtime and avoiding the neighborhood bullies, while injecting subtle social commentary about police brutality and class. However, in Glover and Olori’s script, wanton ignorance is rewarded and celebrated as the main duo gaslight each other into making decisions that would literally ruin their lives.

There are a few funny moments involving

Kid Cudi and writer Lena Waithe, but House Party’s over-reliance on celebrity cameos, social media influencers, and reference scenes from the 1990 film are an even bigger burden on the story. It’s full of outdated comedic gags that don’t elicit reaction, chemistry between the actors is amiss, and the audience can see every single plot point coming a mile away.

Look, there is no issue with rebooting, or remaking something, but because it has a name that is popular with millennials and Gen X is not a good metric for wanting to capitalize off the nostalgia. Anyone tasked with rebooting a franchise should work out what of substance will be added to make the reboot stand out from the former? How does this version elevate the material that we already have at our disposal? Social media can’t be the only thing that defines this generation. There’s got to be something else.

It may not sound like it, but I was excited for this. Calmatic is a great storyteller and his music videos are top notch. SpringHill has a targeted interest in content for and by people of color, specifically Black people.

Both will strike gold one day, but it won’t be with House Party 2023.

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