Great news.

I am officially back; and staying.

I have just finished my final WACE examinations which ultimately means that I am finally done with my twelve years of compulsory schooling and ready to move onto the next stage of my life. Adulthood. I’m sure we’ll continue this great conversation on my other blog: LinnTellsAStory , as today we have much more exciting matters to deal with. Such as the final Bridget Jones film instalment that our inner 2001 selves never thought would come.

This film is fairly recent so I’ll try my best not to disclose any spoilers without warning. In this final instalment to our Bridget Jones trilogy, we join Bridget once again as she’s alone. She’s childless, without a spouse and completely alone. However, we’re instantly shown the positives as she’s finally climbed up to a respectable position in her office and she’s finally achieved her desired physique. Her somewhat perfect life is short-lived however as she constantly encounters her ex-boyfriend (Mark Darcy) and despite the fact that Hugh Grant’s out of the picture, Bridget awkwardly crosses paths with Perfect Jack (Patrick Dempsey). Of course, typical to any Bridget Jones film, the consummation of love inevitably takes place however this time, it unfortunately results in wedlock. Oh no, that’s not the worst part – Bridget has no idea who the father may be. And thus, chaos ensues.

I can’t restrain myself any longer; queue the spoilers.

As many of you have seen from the many trailers, Ed Sheeran managed to make his appearance into this film; which is incredibly impressive. I’m a huge fan of his and to see his career completely flourish like this, it’s amazing. This isn’t Ed’s first acting debut since he’s already made a few television appearances, for example, he appeared on Home and Away as himself. Fans of Ed Sheeran will easily pick up on the inner jokes such as people not recognising him and asking him to take photos for them; instead of with them. This was actually based on true events that Ed has in fact experienced. A few years ago, a couple of people asked Ed to take a photo of them, however Ed mistakingly assumed that they wanted a photo with him. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ed was the one who suggested that they include that particular scene.

However, Ed Sheeran was such a minuscule part of the film; we’re here to focus on Bridget Jones. I do have a confession to make. Bridget Jones is a character that is very relatable. She’s not a perfect person. She started off alone, she smoked, she embarrasses herself in public, she’s not the best worker in the office and the list goes on. There are aspects of her that everyone can find themselves relating to and I felt that this film gave people (particularly women) hope. It sent out this message that it didn’t matter how imperfect you were, there would be a Mr Darcy out there for you. A person that would love you no matter what and this person will be perfect and just accept all of your bullshit with a smile. It sounds ridiculous but the whole concept really did give people hope.

Of course, a few years ago, I would’ve completely and wholeheartedly embraced this idea because I am not a perfect person. I am thoroughly flawed in more ways than one and I think that the idea of waiting for someone and not making any effort to improve myself would’ve sounded incredibly appealing. However, I have completely changed my perspective over the years and have come to realise that relying on finding solace in someone else’s presence is an ideology that sounds absolutely dreadful. That is why whilst viewing this film, I found myself disagreeing with many of Bridget’s actions.

Some may have completely disagreed with Bridget’s 43-year old self spending the night with a perfect stranger during a music festival but surprisingly I am not at all adverse to this idea. She’s already reached the age of 40, she has no kids and no sign of a lover; which ultimately means she has no responsibility. And Jack’s a great guy that has still retained an interest in her despite already experiencing her face first in the mud; literally. I think when you reach a certain age in life you just automatically gain the right to just live life in whichever way that you desire.

Her using expired vegan dolphin condoms on another hand was just unbelievable. For a woman that spent the first two films sleeping with two different men, how is it possible for her to think that using condoms, that expired decades ago, is somewhat effective in acting as a form of contraception? I’m not sure what the writers were thinking but this very big detail was just unbelievable.

However, her level of maturity is incredibly disheartening. First of all, ignoring the fact that she wasn’t aware that Gangnam was a place, it was just utterly painful to see her lose complete interest in Gangnam after Mr Darcy explained the history to her. I know that many of you will disagree with my point here but if we just cast our minds back to Edge of Reason, Bridget didn’t even know where Germany was located. It’s just a little thing that bugged me.

Of course, there was the whole Team Jack and Team Mark situation however, honestly speaking even though I completely sided with Mark Darcy for the first two films, Jack was just clearly the better man. He said that he was completely against having children and yet when he found out Bridget was pregnant, he planned out a whole relationship full of romance and fights, he looked forward to raising a child with her and he was also the first to wholeheartedly accept their awkward predicament. On the other hand, Mark instantly left when Jack hinted that there might be a high possibility that Bridget’s unborn son was his instead of Mark’s. Yeah, Team Mark isn’t looking good.

That’s what I thought until Mark Darcy thought of his first official meeting with Bridget and the throwback montage had me pining for the couple. Honestly, even though their relationship is rather fragile once it cools down, they’re both so wrong for each other that they’re perfect for each other in their own warped way.

Truthfully speaking, this third instalment felt surprisingly empty without the presence of Hugh Grant and his childish fights with Colin. I do understand that Hugh wants to distance himself from the romantic comedy genre but suggesting that Hugh’s character died was just heartbreaking for me. I am quite thankful for the presence of Jack because he provided most of the comedy relief. And yes, the pregnant Bridget relay did have me staring at a blurry screen; courtesy of the tears .

Final words? It certainly wasn’t the best but it did provide the closure we were in need of.