Coming 2 America is an American comedy film directed by Craig Brewer. It stars Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, Shari Headley, Teyana Taylor, Wesley Snipes, and James Earl Jones and was released on 5th March 2021 on Amazon Prime Video.
King Akeem (Eddie Murphy) is the king of Zamunda and on his 30th wedding anniversary, King's father makes him remember that he should pass his throne to a male heir but King Akeem has three daughters. His king father and the shaman Baba reveals to him that Akeem has a son, illegitimate, in America, which he might have fathered when he last visited America. It is the law that the successor to the throne must be a male otherwise Akeem's aggressive and combatant neighbor nation Nextdoria's dictator General Izzi (Wesley Snipes) will execute Akeem within a week or month and will take over Zamunda. Akeem with his aide Semmi (Arsenio Hall) goes to America where Akeem and Semmi find the illegitimate son Lavelle Junson (Jermaine Fowler) selling tickets in black and struggling to find a job. So is Lavelle the perfect successor to the throne? Will Akeem be able to save his kingdom from Nextdoria?
Coming 2 America is the sequel to the 1988 film Coming To America, and is written by Barry W. Blaustein, David Sheffield, Justin Kanew and Kenya Barris. The first part was a reasonably good jolly film and I didn't understand what was the need for a sequel in the first place. The storyline is very simple, there is no scope for character development here. Though it tries to support feminism through the character of Akeem's eldest daughter, why it has to be a king, why not a queen? There are a couple of scenes about it, but that's it...nothing fruitful after that.
The characters are just like stand-up comedians, it appears like they have been lent comic dialogues, and yeah....just go with the flow...numerous dance performances like award shows. Wait that should have made me laugh or it was just there for us to sit back and watch it like dance reality shows? It was only Leslie Jones as Mary Junson who brings some genuine humor in this bland film about who will inherit the throne. With her energy, she owns the scenes, truly. The presence of Tracy Morgan as Reem Junson is also redundant, considering the story, being a stand-up comedian, he hardly makes you laugh. Morgan Freeman made me laugh. Well, that's it, there's nothing to highlight more about the film.
Eddie Murphy as King Akeem is just doing his thing but he's more sleepwalking, kind of. I became a fan of him when I saw him in Dolemite Is My Name playing Rudy Ray Moore. But he disappoints here. There's nothing to show actually. He deserves better. Arsenio Hall as Semmi is okay, Jermaine Fowler as Lavelle Junson made his presence felt with his confident performance, Leslie Jones as Mary Junson is hilarious, Tracy Morgan as Reem Junson is wasted and KiKi Layne as Princess Meeka is earnest in her role. Others were alright too.
The cinematography by Joe Williams is just about okay. There's no scope for good camera work. The production design by Jefferson Sage is beautiful and the costumes by Ruth E. Carter were also eye-filling. The music by Jermaine Stegall is groovy and fits the tone of the film and the editing by David S. Clark and Billy Fox could have been sharper.
Coming 2 America is just another feel-good and enjoyable film but it could have better. The characters are shallow, the dynamics are forced and they all look so unnaturally happy. Everything looks fake, and far from realism. The actors deserved better and we audience too. You can give it a try if you have seen the original 1988 film and enjoyed it. Apart from a couple of genuinely hilarious moments, there's absolutely nothing in this film.
Rating:- 2/5
Now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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