It was the movie that I was most excited to see in 2017 but in all honest my expectations outweighed the movie. I went into the movie with an open mind knowing that it wouldn’t ever be the same as the TV series but there was still a few things that frustrated me. If you’ve not familiar with Absolutely Fabulous it was a TV series that ran for 5 seasons from 1992 – 1996 and has just been made into a movie. Jennifer Saunders wrote and stars in the show as the lead character Edina alongside Joanna Lumley who plays Patsy.

“Appropriate for their big screen debut, Edina and Patsy are still oozing glitz and glamour, living the high life they are accustomed to; shopping, drinking and clubbing their way around London’s trendiest hotspots. Blamed for a major incident at an uber fashionable launch party, they become entangled in a media storm and are relentlessly pursued by the paparazzi. Fleeing penniless to the glamorous playground of the super-rich, the French Riviera, they hatch a plan to make their escape permanent and live the high life forever more!”  – Rotten Tomatoes

You can’t fault Jennifer and Edina’s characters they are just as glamorous and over the top as they were in the TV series. I do wonder how relevant the characters are today but the real reason you would go and see the film is for the nostalgic value. I am not going to lie I was too young to watch the series when it originally aired  but I did watch it in my teen years and really enjoyed it then. While it did have funny parts I feel like most of the funny parts were in the trailer which is something that really frustrates me.

While the majority of the movie is funny there is one scene in particular that really frustrates me. I like the fast that Ab Fab has no judgement gay, straight, lesbian, black, white or trans there is a character that represents everyone which I love. It is very inclusive however one of the narratives sees Edina’s detested ex-husband Marshall transition similar to the transition of Caitlyn Jenner, from this there are some cheap jokes which I found unnecessary. Don’t get me wrong I love that the film is inclusive of the topic the more we talk about it the more we can raise awareness which is an important part of understanding. This being said I don’t believe making a mockery of someone’s journey transitioning is fair. We all deserve to be treated with respect no matter which gender, sexuality or race we belong to.

Now can we address the stupid amount of cameo appearances. To begin with it was fun spotting the celeb cameos but then it got to the point where it was beyond enjoyable. It was almost like they were seeing just how many cameos they could squeeze into the movie. Everyone from Cara Delevingne to Rebel Wilson made an appearance in the film. The most shocking appearance for me was seeing BBC Radio 1’s Nick Grimshaw. While I think he is amazing at what he does it wasn’t a face I was really expecting to see in this film. Of the Cameos only about 3 of them actually added something to the film. The majority just seems to be there for the sake of being there. Personally I love a cameo but only when they’re adding some meaning to the film not just being there for the sake of it.

Full List Of Cameos:

1. Richard Arnold
2. Christopher Biggins
3. Ozwald Boateng
4. Emma Bunton (as herself)
5. Judith Chalmers
6. Gwendoline Christie (as herself)
7. Alexa Chung
8. Abbey Clancy
9. Rylan Clark-Neal (as Ryan)
10. Joan Collins
11. Lily Cole (as herself)
12. Giles Deacon
13. Cara Delevingne
14. Poppy Delevingne
15. Alice Dellal
16. Alesha Dixon
17. Jourdan Dunn
18. Beattie Edmondson (as Claudia’s assistant)
19. Ella Eyre
20. Foxes
21. Dawn French (as Talk Show Host)
22. Sadie Frost
23. Mark Gatiss (as Joel)
24. Jean Paul Gaultier
25. Llewella Gideon (as Llewella)
26. Nick Grimshaw
27. Orla Guerin as herself
28. Jerry Hall
29. Jon Hamm
30. Jodie Harsh
31. Perez Hilton
32. Anya Hindmarch
33. Pam Hogg
34. Kelly Hoppen (as herself)
35. Dame Edna Everage [Barry Humphries]
36. Jocelyn Jee Esien (as Nigerian TV Presenter)
37. Alex Jones
38. La Roux as herself
39. Jamie Laing
40. Kathy Lette
41. Daisy Lowe
42. Lulu as herself
43. Stella McCartney (as herself)
44. Suzy Menkes
45. Nick Mohammed (as Caspar)
46. Kate Moss (as herself)
47. Graham Norton (as himself)
48. Miquita Oliver
49. Jade Parfitt
50. Jeremy Paxman
51. Sophie Raworth
52. Camilla Rutherford
53. Brix Smith
54. Lara Stone
55. Tinie Tempah
56. Bruno Tonioli (as himself)
57. Janette Tough (as Yuki Muki)
58. Wanda Ventham
59. Suki Waterhouse
60. Kirsty Wark
61. Marcia Warren
62. Rebel Wilson (as a Flight attendant)

All in all the movie has some funny parts, for the most part it is completely over the top but that’s what we love about Patsy and Edina. If you’ve never watched Ab Fab I wouldn’t pick this as your favourite film. If you’re open to trying something new don’t expect the world, go in with an open mind and I hope you enjoy it.

I would rate this a 5/10.