Thirty three years after the first film was released Coming 2 America recently dropped on Amazon Prime. First thing you need to realize here is that this film isn’t Shakespeare and a lot can change in thirty three years!
Enjoying the first film, Coming to America, as a kid in the cinema, the sequel was eagerly anticipated and to be honest it did entertain me and make me laugh a lot. No matter what people say about a sequel it is always good to revisit characters that were enjoyable from your past and maybe because of lockdown because of Covid, there is definitely something familiar and comforting about watching a movie that is designed to make you laugh.
The premise of the story for Coming 2 America is Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) has to find his male heir, who until recently he didn’t know he existed.
Lavelle Junson (Jermaine Fowler) is living in Queens and is the result from a one night stand with Mary Junson (Leslie Jones). With the passing of King Jaffe Joffer (James Earl Jones) it has become paramount to find the male heir so the Kingdom can remain in the family and not join the neighboring Kingdom ruled by General Izzi (Wesley Snipes).
Written by Eddie Murphy, Coming 2 America, does heavily draw on the success of the first film. As mentioned this is definitely not a Shakespearen drama or something that is going to challenge or move you, but this is a funny film with many of the original actors returning to their roles and it is guaranteed for a laugh or two.
Directed by Craig Brewer, this is very much a light piece of fluff, but with some outstanding dance numbers with surprisedly good choreography that was very much unexpected.
Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall reprising so many of the original characters from the first film will bring a smile to your face. The men from the barbershop in Queens are back and they are just as funny as before, but what is nice to see is they have modernized and on top of all the new technologies and changes in celebrity culture, which is very amusing.
Leslie Jones as Mary Junson is over the top crazy that is very much in the style of Leslie Jones comedy. Leslie Jones is a great comedian and should be doing more stand up.
There are also a number of supporting cast that need a mention including James Earl Jones and Wesley Snipes.
But what is fantastic to see is Vanessa Bell Calloway is back as Imani Izzi and she recreates her humorist moment where she hops on one leg and barks like a dog. Any fan of the original film will enjoy seeing Vanessa Bell Calloway making a brief but memorable appearance.
Coming 2 America is like many sequels, a lot of hype and trying to draw on the original success of the first film. Like the first there are some really strong characters that are uniquely funny and do a good job at entertaining an audience and it was a great bit of fun to watch and revisit.
Coming 2 America is currently available on Amazon Prime.
