'Coming 2 America' Review
PG13: Crude and sexual content, language and drug content
Runtime: 1 Hr and 51 Minutes
Production Companies: Paramount Pictures, New Republic Pictures, Eddie Murphy Productions, Misher Films
Distributor: Amazon Studios
Director: Craig Brewer
Writers: Kenya Barris, Barry W. Blaustein, David Sheffield
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, Shari Headley, Teyana Taylor, Wesley Snipes, James Earl Jones, Nomzamo Mbatha
Release Date: March 5, 2021
Prime Video
Set in the lush and royal country of Zamunda, newly-crowned King Akeem (Eddie Murphy) and his trusted confidante Semmi (Arsenio Hall) embark on an all-new hilarious adventure that has them traversing the globe from their great African nation to the borough of Queens, New York – where it all began.
Three decades later, one of Eddie Murphy’s most notable characters is back in the long-awaited, highly-anticipated Coming 2 America. Since nostalgia is so heavy, we keep getting sequels with huge age gaps that are nothing but rehashes of their predecessor, making for a worse version of a beloved film. Something that works in Coming 2 America’s favor is that they hardly spend any time in America. If anything, it should’ve been calling “Going To Zamunda” since that’s where most of the film takes place. Though the film is insanely nostalgia-heavy, the narrative isn’t just a lazy copy-and-paste of the first film and I’m grateful for that.
First and foremost, this isn’t Eddie Murphy’s movie. Whereas the first film showed Akeem as the fish out of water in New York where he came alive as the optimistic and eccentric prince, in the sequel he’s just the straight man amongst more eccentric people who surround him. He’s pushed to the background as the focus shifts to Jermaine Fowler as Lavelle, Akeem’s bastard son who must one day become King. Zamunda won’t let a woman step into the role despite Akeem having three daughters — including one who’s old enough for the throne. It’s Fowler's movie more so than anything else and he does carry it, but his arc is hella rushed. The father and son duo hardly bond as they rush his training to become a prince. Fowler is charming and he would’ve shined far more with a better script. Lavelle’s “fish out of water” story involves him adjusting to an African culture while meeting the other side of his family. I like the family values where he’s not treated as being beneath his new step-sisters and stepmom, as well as the energy his mother Mary (Leslie Jones) has with Queen Lisa (Shari Headley) where they just bond as moms who have children with the same man. Hell, I love the dynamic Fowler shares with Leslie Jones.
If this movie had an MVP, that award would go straight to Wesley Snipes. Snipes has a great time on screen as warlord General Izzi of Nextdoria, who vows to create a treaty of marriage between his people and Zamunda due to Akeem screwing over his sister Imani Izzi (Vanessa Bell Calloway). He struts into the film in a silly, exaggerated manner and never lets up, bringing so much charismatic life, energy, and joy to his role.
If we know anything about legendary costume designer Ruth E. Carter, it’s that she’ll make African royalty shine while serving looks. She did it with Wakanda and now she’s brought it to Zamunda. The characters’ outfits reflect their power and their personality. Everyone looks like absolute royalty and it’s so mesmerizing, especially since the outfits compensate for the poor dialogue. Coming 2 America might not be an awards contender but I wouldn’t be surprised if Ruth E. Carter snags a nomination for this.
Nostalgia is such a damn disease. While Coming 2 America isn’t a carbon copy of its predecessor, it still exudes sequelitis to the extreme. The film’s humor relies heavily on your nostalgic love for the original and it borrows so much of its formula in terms of story and humor in order to make a modernized update while handing the torch to a new generation, which doesn't work to its benefit. If you’re a Gen X-er or a millennial who grew up watching this movie well into your teens, this movie is specifically for you. The film is riddled with ‘90s nostalgia, with cameos from many beloved ‘90s musicians, athletes, and even characters from the first film who pop up to trigger memories of when this story was popular. It doubles down on that nostalgia with a variety of cheap callbacks to the predecessor that just don’t hit the way they intended. It’s so annoying watching a long-awaited comedy sequel where a good percentage of the jokes go, “Remember that joke from the original? Remember that? Remember? What if we do it again, but modernized?”
Unlike the R-rated predecessor, Coming 2 America is given a PG-13 rating. This is clearly geared toward a more accessible family audience, which works considering that family is the primary theme. It has some adult edge to it but not enough to push it into R-rated territory. I’d argue that the film doesn’t lose its integrity because of this. It’s far cornier than the predecessor but it’s consistent with its lighter tone. Though it’s more family-friendly and silly, it lacks any form of an original bone in its skeleton to be funny. If the movie isn’t retreading jokes or plot beats to make you laugh, it’s either trying to be self-aware or hip and modern. Because we live in a time where topical humor can become dated in a heartbeat due to the quickening pace of news and content on social media, it affects the state of comedy itself in film and television. Coming 2 America tries so hard to be funny by trying so hard to be relevant. It makes jokes about how much society has changed, how politically correct things are now, and everything that’s been culturally relevant between 1988 and today. It tries so hard to be so fucking current that it ends up feeling dated on arrival.
Apart from that, another aspect of the film’s script that makes it feel so dated is its generic message on feminism. Part of the story’s conflict is centered on how Akeem refuses to break his country’s tradition to hand his eldest badass warrior daughter (KiKi Layne) the key to the throne. It sloppily handles the message by not adding any nuance to the conversation, but it also shafts all the female characters and throws them to the wayside. Shari Headley gets the short end of the stick, lacking material as a nagging wife, which sucks because her role is completely downgraded from the first film. Vanessa Bell Calloway is only here to do that one callback joke from the predecessor. KiKi Layne isn’t given much to do besides being mad at Jermaine Fowler’s presence. I wanted to see her display her comedic side but there is literally no comedic material for her to work with. Out of all the women in the film, the only person who is given agency is Leslie Jones, who is just so naturally funny and knows how to bring enough charm to the picture. Nothing is more tantalizing than seeing three male screenwriters who are just terrible at writing female characters fumble a feminist message. It’s as if they weren’t equipped with the perspective to do such a task, so it's executed with the most basic approach.
Despite the good effort in terms of production, even down to an impressive CGI flashback, this is a studio comedy editing to a tee. So many sequences of comedy are run on a one-cut-per-dialogue exchange style that makes so many jokes fall completely flat. If the dialogue is not working, the editing adds insult to injury where it becomes more reactionary rather than complementing a well delivered joke. It sucks because director Craig Brewer crafted something that felt like more than your average studio comedy with his previous feature Dolemite Is My Name, but Coming 2 America has the stylings of a Hollywood studio comedy from the get-go.
If you’ve loved Coming to America so damn much over the past 30 years, you’ll either love this movie for its heavy nostalgia or hate it for trading its edge for a lighter tone and the lack of original characters given agency. To see almost everyone return alongside a new cast of recognizable faces feels like a warm welcome, but considering how much it relies on the popularity of its predecessor as the basis of its humor, Coming 2 America is your run-of-the-mill mediocre studio sequel. Man, I’m glad this went to Amazon Prime rather than theaters because it would’ve been a major waste of time on the big screen. Instead, it gets to be a waste of time at home where time doesn’t exist anymore! YAY!
