Coming 2 America
AMAZONIn the age of movie studios searching for any film with a faint amount of nostalgia on it, it should come as no surprise to find sequels to thirty year old films finally getting the green light. With his recent turn as Rudy Ray Moore in Dolemite is My Name, Eddie Murphy and that film’s director, Craig Brewer, rejoined to make the sequel to Murphy’s must beloved eighties cult classic, Coming to America, with the aptly titled, Coming 2 America.
Originally produced by Paramount with a theatrical release in mind, the film was sold to Amazon late last year amid the continuing pandemic. The film picks up thirty years after the original, with Murphy’s Prince Akeem still happily married to Lisa (Shari Headley) and now with three daughters. With his father dying, he tells Akeem he has a son in New York City that he was never told of. Upon his fathers death, Akeem and his advisor Semmi (Arsenio Hall) travel back to Queens to find Akeems long lost son, Lavelle (Jermaine Fowler), and bring him back to Zamunda to become the prince. Lavelle brings his mother and uncle (Leslie Jones and Tracey Morgan) as he trains to become prince and marry the daughter of the dictator (Wesley Snipes) of Nextdoria, though he eventually rejects the arranged marriage to be with the woman he loves.
With almost all sequels — but most especially comedy ones — they find themselves running into the similar issues of recycled storylines and gags, and Coming 2 America is not any different. The similarities begin with the opening, playing up the existence of the prince and his family just as the original film’s opening did. The recycling continues with complete recreation of scenes from the original or just simply playing clips recapping that film’s story. That’s not to say the film isn’t without its funny lines or moments. Eddie Murphy’s return to the world of comedy films is a welcomed one, but his talents are ultimately wasted here — often finding himself overshadowed by the other performers, particularly whenever Wesley Snipes was on screen. The script does little justice for anyone involved, with many of the characters simply being vessels to move forward what little story this has. What story is there tries too hard to remix and modernise the first films, resulting in a film without the heart or staying power that made the original a classic.
Director Craig Brewer, known for vibrant films like Hustle & Flow and Black Snake Moan, brings almost none of that vibrancy to a film that otherwise plays it safe in terms of both visuals and story. The overly flat cinematography leaves the film looking like a tv show, which is a shame since the films production design and costuming (done by Oscar winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter) are often times the strongest aspects of the film. The long awaited Coming 2 America is yet another unnecessary sequel to a cult classic. The story is thin to the point of non existence, forcing the film to rely heavily on pure nostalgia and recycled material just to keep things going.
