Hellur? Why yes, it’s a Madea movie list.
Tyler Perry’s Madea franchise has become a polarizing staple within the film community. Perry’s work in entertainment dates back to the 90s, when he was known for his traveling stage performances. After connecting with Oprah Winfrey, Perry started extending his work to film and television, growing it into an entertainment empire. With a net worth of over $800 million, there is no denying the influence and popularity of his work. After the release of A Madea Homecoming on Netflix on February 25, 2022, his iconic Madea character attempted to reach for a new fanbase. For those unfamiliar, or those veterans who are looking for a refresher, here is a complete list of Madea movies in order of appearance.
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Originally adapted from one of Perry’s plays, Diary of a Mad Black Woman was the big screen's introduction to the Madea character. The story revolves around Helen (Kimberly Elise) whose husband Charles (Steve Harris) decides to leave her for another woman (Lisa Marcos) on the eve of their 18th anniversary. She takes solace at her grandmother’s house, who just so happens to be the gun-toting, chainsaw-wielding Mable “Madea” Simmons (Tyler Perry), where Helen learns about family, self-advocacy, and eventually falls in love again. Besides being Madea’s first film appearance, it also features cinema royalty Cicely Tyson.
The second film in the Madea Cinematic Universe, Madea’s Family Reunion revisits the formula, with Madea now finding herself taking care of various family members. The film features an iconic performance from a young Keke Palmer, who plays Nikki, a troubled girl in need of Madea’s guidance. This film would outperform its predecessor at the box office, and cement the Madea franchise in what would become a precedent of profitability at the box office.
Although Meet the Browns is not technically a Madea movie, Madea does make a cameo appearance in this Angela Bassett-fronted film. Bassett stars as a single mother who meets her extended family for the first time after the death of her father, whom she’d never met. After traveling down to Georgia to attend her father’s funeral, she meets the patriarch of the Brown family Mr. Leroy Brown (David Mann), and his daughter Cora Simmons (Tamela Mann). Simmons, coincidentally, is also the daughter of none other than Madea, who makes a cameo appearance as she is involved in a televised car chase.
The fourth movie in the Madea universe, Madea Goes to Jail touches on topics like judicial corruption, sex work, and drug abuse. The story revolves around assistant district attorney Joshua (Derek Luke) who is engaged to another assistant district attorney Linda (Ion Overman), trying to help former friend Candace (Keshia Knight Pulliam), who has been engaging in prostitution and eventually finds herself in jail. Meanwhile, Madea’s uncontrollable anger problems and frequent legal troubles have also landed her in jail. There, she plays court to a collection of troubled but well-meaning characters including T.T. (Sofia Vergara) as well as Candace. After it is found that Linda, who had overseen their cases, was engaged in various forms of malpractice, Madea, Candace, and others have their cases thrown out and are let out of jail.
In I Can Do Bad All by Myself, a group of youths tries to rob Madea’s house. After Madea confronts them, the children reveal that their aunt April (Taraji P Henson), a struggling local nightclub singer, is their guardian. The film features a couple of music legends, as much of the film takes place at a nightclub. Mary J Blige plays a bartender at April’s nightclub, and we are gifted with the performance of the song “I Can Do Bad.” Music legend Gladys Knight also appears, playing a member of a church congregation in April’s neighborhood.
After her niece Shirley (Loretta Devine) gets a cancer diagnosis, it's up to Madea yet again to bring the family together in Madea’s Big Happy Family. This time, it is the children of said niece, who are too wrapped up in their own respective personal dramas. The sixth installment of the franchise also features the return of Cora and Mr. Brown, and is once again based on one of Perry’s plays. It features an appearance by teen idol Shad “Bow Wow” Moss as Byron, another relative in Madea's ever-expanding family, as well as an inspired comedic performance by Teyana Taylor, who plays Moss’ rambunctious ex-girlfriend Sabrina.
Another year, another Madea film. Madea’s Witness Protection is the 7th installment in the Madea franchise. This time, Madea’s nephew George Needleman (Eugene Levy) is a high-level chief financial officer in need of witness protection after unwittingly becoming involved in a Ponzi scheme. As she does, Madea steps in and invites him and his family to Atlanta to keep them safe from the mob. Some familiar faces feature in this one including Denise Richards, Doris Roberts, Romeo Miller, and John Amos.
In the eighth installment of the Madea franchise, A Madea Christmas, Madea brings her own brand of Christmas cheer and hijinx to the holiday. Madea travels to Alabama in a refreshing change of location, where she has to help out her great-niece EiIleen (Anna Maria Horsford) and daughter Lacy (Tika Sumpter). This one tackles themes of racial tension and interracial dating and features appearances by Chad Michael Murray, Larry the Cable Guy, and Alicia Witt. There is something very satisfying about watching Madea run around in a Santa outfit, and this movie would be the first holiday-themed entry into the Madea franchise.
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This nintth installment breaches new territory, as it is the first to be animated. Madea’s Tough Love sees Madea transported from the live-action world into an animated program, where she takes it upon herself to employ her own brand of discipline on the unsuspecting characters she crosses paths with. As the first animated installment, Madea's hijinks takes on a level of extremity hard to replicate in live-action, which allows Perry and the rest of the cast the freedom to explore the physical boundaries of Madea's comedy. This film ends with Madea uniting the neighborhood children to save the local youth center from closing down, proving that her titular tough love works yet again.
Because of the success of the Christmas-themed A Madea Christmas, Perry decided to take a stab at another holiday in Boo! A Madea Halloween. This time, Madea takes on the spookiest holiday of them all. In this farcical satire of the horror genre, specifically the Scream franchise, Madea finds herself trying to keep watch of Tiffany (Diamond White), a teenage family member who herself is on a quest to attend a Halloween house party. Madea goes toe-to-toe with typical Halloween fare such as zombies, ghosts, and killers, but the scariest part of this film was its box office success, prompting our next entry on this list.
Yes, one Halloween movie just wasn't enough for Madea. Boo 2! A Madea Halloween debuted in theaters just a year after the first. Teenage Tiffany returns with intentions of celebrating her 18th birthday at a frat party. The catch? This party is taking place in the middle of the woods by a lake near a haunted campground. Of course, this is a perfect environment for a comedic romp. Madea again enlists her friends Bam (Cassi Davis) and Hattie (Patrice Lovely) in a slapstick adventure where they battle goblins and other typical spooky fare.
After a two-year hiatus, Madea returns in her first non-holiday-themed live-action film since Madea's Witness Protection. In A Madea Family Funeral, Madea and her family come together to celebrate relatives Anthony (Derek Morgan) and Vianne’s (Jen Harper) 40th wedding anniversary. When Anthony is caught having sexual relations with Vianne's best friend Renee (Quin Walters), he suffers a heart attack. The fallout from the death includes hiding Anthony's true cause of death, planning his funeral, and, you guessed it, repairing the damage done to the family. At the time, Perry had intended for this to be the final installment in the Madea film franchise.
When news broke that Madea would be returning for another installment in A Madea Homecoming, many were surprised. Perry himself had stated years earlier that Madea's Family Funeral would be the last. In this collaboration with Netflix released on February 25th, Madea brings her hijincks to her great-grandson (Brandon Black). The film features familiar faces David and Tamela Mann, and Cassi Davis, alongside newcomers to the franchise Gabrielle Dennis and Irish comedian Brendan O'Carroll as Mrs. Brown.
Lyndon Nicholas is a Resource Writer for Collider interested in film, television, media, video games, and all things blerd culture.
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