Review of Coming 2 America
midlandsmovies • March 13, 2021
Coming 2 America (2021) Dir. Craig Brewer
23 years after the release of the original, Coming 2 America is a follow up to the classic 80s Eddie Murphy fish-out-of-water comedy. We catch up with Prince Akeem (Murphy) who uncovers that during his first visit to New York, he was drugged and has ended up with a son (Jermaine Fowler) he never knew of.
With three daughters and his dying father (a much-welcomed James Earl Jones) encouraging him to continue the male lineage of his forefathers, Akeem returns with Semmi (Arsenio Hall) to the US to find his heir.
Unlike its predecessor, Coming 2 America is filled with bland comic interludes and a move away from Murphy’s central comic role. The time delay between first and second instalments means its flaws are pretty obvious. Go in prepared for shoehorned cameos, progressive versus old fashioned humour and a familiar narrative re-tread. So it’s not a good idea to expect a comedy revolution – that’s wishful at worst, naïve at best.
But the hardest pill to swallow is that Murphy himself is somewhat relegated to a passive observer. The main focus shifts to his urban son who he brings back to Zamunda and who struggles with ancient African customs.
The opening 20 minutes is fun with a reintroduction to familiar faces and the simple retcon gets the story started. But it fairly quickly descends into a saggy middle section absent of laughs. It felt like Akeem and Semmi’s quest to find the son in NYC could have been the movie’s central narrative.
Instead we get far too many music/dance numbers. Did they not have enough jokes? In doesn’t help that all the new characters from New York are simply annoying and unnecessary.
The original was a social and cultural satire but the sequel’s distance from adult-centred comedy to a family-friendly fairy tale is a huge misstep and now we get CGI lions and endless musical montages.
Coming 2 America ends up then as a hugely disappointing attempt to capture the spirit of the original. But with a different tone, the only enjoyment strangely came from the heavy-handed fan service. From McDowell’s, the Queen’s barbershop, Randy Watson and Akeem and Semmi’s banter, the closer the film stepped towards the original the better it is.
But it can’t get by on 10 minutes worth of nostalgic scenes alone. And that ultimately means any fans coming back to enjoy another razor-sharp trip will be woefully let down. And then some.
★★
Michael Sales
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