After a 12 year hiatus, Bridget Jones returns to the big screen. Jessica Newgas reviews the latest offering to see if the third in the trilogy lives up to its name.

Nowadays it is rare in a cinema to feel the sense of communal enjoyment that the new Bridget Jones brought to the room. Yet despite opening with the painfully familiar (and sadly relatable) shot of Bridget sat on her sofa in her dressing gown, the film did not rely on its tried and tested material to fly.

The sequel was dragged into 2016 like Bridget herself; unconventional yet always surprisingly successful. We now find Bridget in her middle age, but the star studded cast – all on the mature side – carried the film’s ‘so what?’ message. Yes, this revival was partly to please the fans, but it also allowed Bridget’s character to develop further. She’s over forty, she’s successful and she’s certainly not too old for sex.

Which brings us to Mr Darcy. Of course, he was back and once again competing for Bridget’s love after she finds herself pregnant, the child’s father one of two possible men. Colin Firth comically takes on the rather better-preserved Patrick Dempsey with some success. The more intimate scenes evoked a collective cringe from the young audience, yet we all quietly rooted for the old flame to reignite.

What rang true through the entirety of the film was the message of female empowerment. Bridget’s strength and determination when she finds out she’s single and pregnant with Emma Thompson’s hilarious Doctor Rawlings’ child was testament to this. The importance of friendship was also never downplayed; Bridget’s old friends always remaining by her side along with her work friend, Miranda (Sarah Solemani), who shows Bridget she’s certainly not too old for a music festival.

A revival that was not essential but greatly appreciated, Bridget Jones’s Baby was like catching up with an old friend, beautifully punctuated with laughter as we all relaxed into the nostalgia.

Jessica Newgas

(Image courtesy of Allstar/Universal)