Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair Review: A Chaotic Reminder that Family Is Forever

Can you ever really escape your family? The revival series Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair says no, but then does its best to prove that that’s not such a bad thing. Reuniting nearly every member of the core cast, including Frankie Muniz, Bryan Cranston, and Jane Kaczmarek, the four-episode Hulu reunion does its best to capture the heartfelt anarchy of the long-running Fox sitcom, and despite some structural oddness succeeds.

Written by series creator Linwood Boomer and directed by longtime series director Ken Kwapis, Life’s Still Unfair does a quick job of catching the viewer up on everything that’s happened to these characters since last we saw them in 2006. Hal and Lois are still deeply in love and living in their original house with a few of their many children: Francis (Christopher Kennedy Masterson), cohabitating with his wife Piama (Emy Coligado) in the garage, second-eldest son Reese (Justin Berfield), whose life has failed to take off, and youngest child Kelly (Vaughan Murrae), a teenager who has somehow managed their brothers’ propensity for getting into trouble — or at least they’re very good at not getting caught.

As for Malcolm, he has done a remarkable job of separating himself from the people who raised him, and as a result, “My life is fantastic now.” He runs a successful charity that does real good in the world, he has a smart and sweet teenage daughter named Leah (Keeley Karsten), and things are going very well with his new girlfriend Tristan (Kiana Madeira). What he’s learned is that being with his family brings out his worst qualities, so he’s been blowing them off as much as possible for years now, and feeling much happier and saner as a result.

Things come to a head, though, thanks to his parents’ 40th wedding anniversary, for which Lois has planned an extravagant fancy party, the perfect opportunity to gather a ton of original cast members for cameos bring together all their friends and family. The build-up to said party dominates most of these four episodes, as Malcolm does his best to avoid going — a foolish quest, considering how formidable Lois and other family members can be.

Life’s Still Unfair echoes the original show’s framework to a T, including Malcolm breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the audience. Turns out, fourth wall breaking is an inherited trait, as Leah also has her father’s powers, and offers her own insights on life and their complicated family over the course of the show’s return. Also, because she’s a teenager, she has a lot of feelings to share.

Leah and Tristan are pretty much the only major new characters introduced for this revival — otherwise, the focus remains on the core ensemble, all of whom are in top form. It maybe takes a moment to get used to an adult Muniz talking to the camera (as he says right at the beginning, he knows he looks a little different) but he quickly rises to meet the manic energy required, and Kaczmarek has lost none of her acidic energy.

Cranston seems actively determined to remind us all that once upon a time, he was very much typecast as the quintessential goofy suburban father. (This was actually a problem when producer Vince Gilligan wanted to cast him as the lead in Breaking Bad — AMC didn’t think Cranston could be intimidating enough. Gilligan ended up showing them a classic Season 6 episode of The X-Files as evidence that he’d work, and TV history was made.)

His return to Hal just confirms Cranston’s incredible versatility as an actor, with his remarkable inability to feel embarrassment and goofy charm fueling so many of the show’s funniest bits. Hal’s singing Bruno Mars instead of The Kingston Trio, but the vibe remains intact. As for the rest, they don’t get a ton of time in the spotlight, but Justin Berfield does manage to really draw out the messy insecurities of Reese even as an adult, and watching Christopher Kennedy Masterson’s Francis continue to battle for Lois’s approval is a highlight.

(For those worried about being thrown off by the recast Dewey — now played by Caleb Ellsworth-Clark, after Erik Per Sullivan declined to return — know that he only makes limited appearances.)

Structurally, there’s something very odd about the way Life’s Still Unfair works — it’s being presented as four individual episodes, but they really function as a four-part story, one somewhat less than two hours in length. What’s the word for a filmed narrative that runs approximately 90-120 minutes in length while telling a complete story… Right, a movie! That’s really the best way to approach this, and it does make for a fun binge, especially thanks to a heavy emphasis on slapstick that leads to some true laugh-out-loud moments.

Life’s Still Unfair doesn’t put too much effort into establishing this show for new audiences; it plays much more as a love letter to the fans who can actually remember things like the existence of Hal and Lois’s fifth son Jamie (Anthony Timpano). However, it does showcase the reasons why this particular family has stayed alive in our imaginations all these years — the particular flavor of chaos these people inflict on each other really is singular. That’s what makes them family.

All four episodes of Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair premiere Friday, April 10th on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. Check out the latest trailer below.