'Bridget Jones’s Baby is a bundle of joy': Critics deliver largely positive reviews of third instalment of Renee Zellweger franchise

By Ellie Genower For Mailonline

Published: 04:36 EST, 6 September 2016 | Updated: 10:53 EST, 6 September 2016

News of a third Bridget Jones movie was received with some trepidation by fans worried that the 12 year gap between films would leave Renee Zellweger's now-middle aged diarist struggling to match her 2001 hilarity. 

But Bridget's latest escapades have largely gone down a storm with critics, with one even describing it as 'a bundle of joy'. 

The Daily Mail's Brian Viner described the movie, which premiered in London on Sunday night, as 'a worthy completion of the trilogy –assuming it is to stay a trilogy, and that we are not likely to assemble again one day for Bridget Jones’s Dentures.'

She's back: Renee Zellweger stars alongside Colin Firth and newbie Patrick Demsey in Bridget Jones's Baby which has largely gone down well with critics 

She's back: Renee Zellweger stars alongside Colin Firth and newbie Patrick Demsey in Bridget Jones's Baby which has largely gone down well with critics 

He also roundly praised Renee's performance, saying:  'As for Zellweger, whose looks and love life have been subjected to even more intense scrutiny than Bridget’s over the years, she rises admirably to the challenge of playing her most famous character in middle age.' 

'If the first film, Bridget Jones's Diary was a smash, and its sequel The Edge Of Reason a holding piece, here we have a laughathon,' added the Daily Mirror's critic David Edwards.  

Digital Spy's Rosie Fletcher was more uncertain of Bridget's direction, bemoaning her 'aspirational' new slant.

Big return: Renee Zellweger at Sunday night's Bridget Jones's Baby premiere
Renee is again star of the show in the hit franchise

Big return: Renee Zellweger at Sunday night's Bridget Jones's Baby premiere 

Dear diary: The new movie sees Renee's Bridget deal with middle age  

Dear diary: The new movie sees Renee's Bridget deal with middle age  

'Sure, "new Bridget" falls face down in the mud, has awkward sex, and - yes, gets trapped in a glass revolving door with two blokes, either of whom could be the father of her kid - but it's not the same,' she writes. 

'Suddenly she's become aspirational, not inspirational. She's a gorgeous, wealthy(ish), media-type with two near-perfect men head-over-heels for her.' 

Across the pond, reviews were mixed, with The Hollywood Reporter's Leslie Felperin musing: 'If nothing else, Bridget Jones's Baby can bask in the glory of being a less dismal than usual reboot of an aging franchise.'

A bundle of joy: Bridget's latest escapades have largely won praise from the critics

A bundle of joy: Bridget's latest escapades have largely won praise from the critics

Supporting cast: Emma Thompson is just one of the stars who won plaudits from critics for her role as Dr Rawlings 

Supporting cast: Emma Thompson is just one of the stars who won plaudits from critics for her role as Dr Rawlings 

While Variety's  Catherine Bray said: 'It's not a comedy for the ages, but it’s interesting to see a rom-com starring a middle-aged woman grappling with irrelevance in the workplace.'

The movie sees Bridget working as a news producer, with awards under her belt and a more balanced approach to life than in the previous two movies.

However, her life is about to be turned upside down once again, as she discovers she's pregnant.

And Bridget is unsure whether the father of the child is the faithful Mark Darcy, (Colin Firth), or the dashing American Jack Qwant, played by Grey’s Anatomy’s Doctor McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey). 

Bridget Jones’s Baby hits cinemas on September 16 

BRIDGET JONES'S BABY: THE CRITICS' VERDICT 

'BJB is as familiar as your favourite slippers but a lot funnier and a lot less smelly.'  The Sun  

'Zellweger is reliably watchable, both dotty and adorable, while there's sterling support from Emma Thompson as her GP, urging Bridget to "Bring along the father, if you can work out which one he is." Note to self: watch at all costs.' Daily Mirror

'Bridget's back in a comeback that you root for, even while it’s wobbling and occasionally falling in the mud.' The Telegraph  

'For all its foibles and occasional missteps, Bridget Jones's Baby marks a very welcome return for a character who, all these years on, hasn't lost her neurotic charm in the slightest.' The Independent 

'Bridget presides over a kind of coalition government of very good supporting turns which on aggregate enforce their chaotic comic rule over the audience. Just about.' The Guardian 

'Much of the charm of celluloid Bridget originally was down to Zellweger herself and it’s joyous to see that that twinkle in her eyes, funny little shrug and sing-song RP cadence is still very much intact' Total Film 

'Witty, playful touches like this and a sterling supporting cast that brings back Jim Broadbent and Gemma Jones as mum and dad, Celia Imrie as mum’s bestie and Sally Phillips as Bridget’s confidante, ensure that Bridget Jones’s Baby is a bundle of joy.' Radio Times

'You have to have a heart of coal not to laugh (a lot), cry (a bit) and leave wanting to see it all over again. More than a match for the original, the third outing for Bridget has a solid story with holes you’ll forgive thanks to the much-missed onscreen magic created by a director and her leading woman.'  Empire

'That this is a song sung in a slightly more pensive, even at times melancholy, key than the first parts of the trilogy shouldn’t hurt the film’s appeal at the box office.' Variety 

     

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