Review: Coming 2 America

 

Hello! Today, I'm reviewing the long-awaited sequel to Coming to America, Coming 2 America. The film sees Eddie Murphy return to one of his iconic roles, Prince Akeem of Zamunda, Arsenio Hall, Shari Headley, James Earl Jones, Paul Bates, Louie Anderson, Vanessa Bell Calloway and John Amos and joining the sequel is Kiki Layne, Leslie Jones, Jermaine Fowler, Tracy Morgan, Teyanna Taylor, Wesley Snipes, Nomzamo Mbatha, Davido and Rick Ross. The film is directed by Craig Brewer, who previously did the Netflix hit, Dolemite Is My Name, also starring Murphy which makes this their second collaboration. 

This goes without saying, but... SPOILER ALERT.

In Coming 2 America, King Akeem learns that he apparently has a son in America that he didn't know about and he and Semmi go back to Queens to find his son and bring him to Zamunda to become the rightful heir to the throne and to not be assassinated by Next-doria, the land where Akeem's original betrothed was supposed to be married to, and yes. She still barks like a dog and is hopping on one foot. General Izzi, the leader of Next-doria offers his daughter, Bopoto to Lavelle, the "bastard" son to him. When Lavelle does go to Zamunda, he's put into a series of challenges like walking and acting like a prince, know the Joffer's family history, and steal whiskers from a lion. Akeem's daughter, Meeka is basically pissed that her daddy doesn't make her the heir since that only men can rule Zamunda. Was Lavelle put aside in favor of Meeka being the heir? No. She was kicked to the curb and she sucked it up. All of that training was for nothing! But it was pretty cool that she took down the Next-dorians, that was cool, but then while that is happening, it crosscuts to Lavelle's plot line. Speaking of Lavelle, he was more of a used plot device than a character and the filmmakers tried to make him a character by having him be in a relationship that didn't have the same pull as Akeem and Lisa's.

Now, that's not to say that Jermaine Fowler and Nomazamo Mbatha tried their best, but their relationship just didn't sell. The film claims to be feminine but the ladies are pushed aside to help the main male characters. 

Let's be honest, Leslie Jones raped and African prince and birthed a son. I mean, what were the writers thinking?! Yes, it was Semmi's fault but this whole plot point cannot be ignored. Coming 2 America may have hurt the previous film's legacy but the costumes were so hypnotic and soo cool. Props to Academy-Award winning costume designer, Ruth E. Carter, who won the gold for designing the costumes for Black Panther and it did have funny moments, but weren't as funny as the original, and the Barbershop guys came back and have barely aged, and Wesley Snipes steals the show as General Izzi, not only was he funny, but he was quite menacing. 

My final verdict: I liked how Coming 2 America looked in terms of costumes and production design but the humor falls flat especially given that it has PG-13 rating stitched onto its face. It's a literal "Fuck You" to OG fans, especially myself. It did have great callbacks and that's the problem. The sequel focused too much on nostalgia and the greatness of Coming to America and why is it called Coming 2 America where it mostly takes place in Zamunda, just call it Coming to Zamunda. 

So.. I'll give this a 2/5.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to comment below your thoughts on Coming 2 America.