Coming 2 America

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, Kiki Layne, Shari Headley, James Earl Jones, John Amos, Teyana Taylor, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Morgan Freeman, Louie Anderson, Trevor Noah, Gladys Knight, Colin Jost, John Legend
Directed by: Craig Brewer
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
2021

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: To prevent a hostile takeover of his country, Akeem (Eddie Murphy) much travel back to America to find his long-lost son (Jermaine Fowler).

Review:

Tim: I definitely enjoyed the original Coming to America and while it's not quite a great film in my mind, it's one of the classic comedies of the 1980s. It's funny, relevant (today, as well as when it was initially released), and has something to say. I was excited to check in on this characters after 30+ years. While Coming 2 America doesn't capture the same magic as the original, it was at least a decent film. I'm happy I watched it, even while I acknowledge the film's flaws.

As you might expect, the fact that we get to see these characters again after decades away is the film's biggest strength. Seeing Eddie Murphy slip into Akeem again was wonderful. I was really surprised by how many of the original cast members were reunited for this film. That's absolutely a joyous experience. We get to see what these 1980s characters look like in the 2020s and that is always worthwhile. I'm glad this movie was made. I do wish it was closer in quality to the original, though.

The story is pretty decent. Akeem faces a threat to his kingdom because he's only had daughters. He needs a son to take his throne after him. While this plot point felt a little tough in 2020 and doesn't paint Africa in the most modern light, I get why they went this way with the script. It forces Akeem to return to America after a long absence. There's this wonderful mirror of the story- in the original, Akeem travels to America to find a wife. In this one, he travels to America to find his son. In many ways, it completes the circle for Akeem. Now, I had some issues with how the existence of his son is explained- it felt forced and not exactly consistent with the Akeem of the original film. That bothered me, but again, I suppose it fits in with the overall narrative this story was trying to tell. It makes this movie not as much about Akeem, as about his son. That focus might have been needed from a storytelling perspective. It's somewhat entertaining to see the culture switch- in the first film, Akeem is trying to adjust to American culture. In this one, his son is trying to adjust to Zamunda culture. Again, it's clever how it tells a parallel story. While I wish the focus had been more on Akeem, I understand the logic in this approach.

One of the weaker aspects of this film is the comedy. While the first movie felt truly and consistently funny I laughed far more seldom in this movie. The only line I truly laughed at was the one about "Seeing you brings to mind my father's favorite curses for you..." I watched Murphy deliver that line at least a dozen times. There's more than a few moments afterwards that made me smile, but the movie wasn't nearly as funny as it needed to be. That certainly hurts the film.

The cast is good, but it's big for a film that comes in under 2 hours. It was wonderful to see Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall in these roles again. It felt like both of them comfortably slipped back into these characters and they seemed to feel real joy bringing Akeem and Semmi to life again. I really enjoyed their performances. I loved seeing James Earl Jones again. He's definitely aged and the film didn't require him to do too much, but his presence in any form or length is going to make your movie better. Wesley Snipes was a great addition to the cast and brought a nice edge to his character. Jermaine Fowler was solid as Akeem's son. I thought Fowler did a good job. That being said, he was in a bit of a hard spot. I'd be surprised if he emerged as an Eddie Murphy-level talent. In many ways, the film thrusts him into the protagonist role and while he's good, he cannot compare to Murphy in the original or here. It feels like there's a drop off in quality there. I'm not a fan of Leslie Jones and she didn't change my mind here. She was fine. Tracy Morgan wasn't bad. He's great in small doses and for the most part, they limit his time here. I wish we got more time with KiKi Layne. She was effective in the role, but limited in what she was able to do. It was fun seeing Shari Headley again. I thought she was unremarkable in the original, but she seemed slightly better here. Maybe it was her becoming a slightly better actress over the past few decades, maybe a bit of nostalgia. She certainly seemed stronger here than in the original. It was great seeing John Amos and Louie Anderson. I loved the addition of Morgan Freeman, even if for one scene. As a whole, the cast worked well.

Coming 2 America was a decent movie. It might have been unfair to expect the film to rise to the level of the original. It doesn't do that. It offers a decent story and is fairly entertaining. I'm glad I saw it and it brought some level of entertainment to early 2021. However, whereas I can see myself revisiting Coming to America, it would be a lot harder for me to sit down and see this movie again. It's not good enough to warrant another almost 2 hours of my life. So, it's a decent film, but it's also not quite good enough given its pedigree.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Coming to America, The Nutty Professor, The Golden Child, Beverly Hills Cop, Sorry to Bother You