Eddie Murphy is funny- no one is denying that. Even when beset by box office failures, he's always just one "comeback" film away from being on top of his game. "Coming 2 America," sequel to "Coming to America," debuts on Amazon Prime and, well, if you think watching Eddie Murphy play Zamunda prince, now king, surrounded by a cast of Arsenio Hall, Leslie Jones, Tracey Morgan, Wesley Snipes, and much more, then go watch it. I'm sure you'll laugh.
But the film is a curiosity in antiquity, where jokes that may have been appropriate in 1988, the year of the original, may no longer be so "OK." In 2021, comedies need to be careful not to offend anyone, and "Coming 2 America's" way around such political correctness is not to necessarily avoid such hot topics, but instead to identify what's happening as "wrong," and then simply go forward with the joke. Not that that's a bad thing, or is it?
Take for example the character of Reverend Brown, played by Hall, who is referred to as "the sexist preacher," or something to that effect. Why is he in the film at all if he's sexist? It begs the question: is that even a problem?
I'm getting off topic though. The big thing is that this long-awaited sequel is bright, energetic, and it's scattershot script fires in many directions and is bound to hit something that'll make you laugh. Or smile. Or at the very least, grin in mild amusement. Actually, actively not turning off the app and watching Netflix is the "very least." That my friends, was my reaction.
That was my take away at least, having not seen the original.
*gasp
That's right readers, this author has never seen the first in this series, which is only now a series. Why? Why not, that's a better question. More often than not, sequels just retell the same story with mostly all new jokes- I'd rather have a good time today with a film made today, then to soak up all the enjoyment of cinema from yesterday. Whether or not that makes any sense is irrelevant; this is a film review of a long-gestating continuation of something made over thirty years ago.
A lot of this has nothing to do with the final product I'll admit. Maybe I'm just not all that interested in describing the plot to a comedy where people in the 50s and 60s play an upward of four characters. You can see them sweating through their pounds of make-up as they come in for the punchline. If you have to strain for the laugh, are you sure the script is even worth it?
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