Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair Review (Disney+)
“Yes, no, maybe, I don’t know. Can you repeat the question?” were the iconic lyrics that opened every episode of Malcolm in the Middle, an American sitcom that stole the hearts of a generation with its wacky yet heart-warming depiction of a dysfunctional family. Very much a product of the 90s, like many shows from that era, it returns to our screens with all the main cast on board for the legacy season of television, Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair. Is it worth a trip down memory lane with this family, though?
It’s been twenty years since we last saw one of the most famous TV families, their surname not uttered intentionally throughout its entire original run. Life’s Still Unfair has only four half-hour episodes to catch up with them all and deliver a fresh and meaningful new disaster for them to navigate, and it mostly delivers a satisfying return. The most distracting thing is just how much they’ve all grown up, making you sit back and realise just how old you are now if you watched the original series. As a kid, it was fun to watch other kids on TV be so disruptive and hapless in their approach to family and love life. No,w as an adult, it’s just as fun to watch them try to adjust to adult life. Some have kids, some have careers that see them travelling abroad, and some of them just don’t want to grow up at all.
It was a show that always had a huge heart at its core, the kids being a handful,ul but the family dynamic always being one that looks after each other. That heart remains, ins but needs putting in the right place with Malcolm becoming estranged from his family over the years. The life he now leads is going well, with a teenage daughter at the centre of it, so why would he want to deal with the inevitable chaos that would ensue by reaching out to his family? It takes a little while to find its feet, however, when it does, Life’s Still Unfair is the most welcome return – slapstick comedy, fantasy sequences and family feuds aplenty.
While it’s great to see the show not afraid to live up to the goofiness of its past, Life’s Still Unfair packs an almighty emotional punch that comes in the final episode, the parents being the centre of attention and the show delivering a moment quite unexpectedly beautiful.
As with the original show, Jane Kaczmarek and Bryan Cranston remain the absolute standouts as Lois and Hal, the overwhelmed parents of the family. It’s always hard to believe this is the same man who played Walter White in Breaking Bad. They play off each other so well and revel in being back together on screen, their chemistry not missing a beat in the past twenty years. Frankie Muniz returns to the role that made him a star at a young age after a faltering acting career, as well as trying his hand at race-driving, and he slots right back into all the fourth-wall-breaking characteristics that made Malcolm such an intriguing, if often irritating, protagonist. Keeley Karsten, like his daughter Leah, shows signs of the same instincts, and it makes for an interesting dynamic between the two as the show goes on.
In a world where the revival of films and shows can be seen as a rather cynical attempt at cashing in on nostalgia, Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair wears its heart on its sleeve and proves that not all of them should be written off before aired.
★★★ 1/2
Streaming on Disney+ from April 10 / Frankie Muniz, Bryan Cranston, Jane Kaczmarek, Christopher Masterson, Justin Berfield / Hulu, Disney+
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