* SIGH * And here it is, the second "blast from the past" disappointment in a row... First, we've got Tom & Jerry with Spike crapping all over the place and now? Now we've got this. Like everybody else, I loved the original movie. Together with Trading Places, it was, like, one of the best comedies from eighties. So, even though I tried to keep my expectations here as low as possible to avoid being disappointed much, I still hoped for good. Like Agent Mulder? I wanted to believe. Unfortunately... yeah. You know how it is. Didn't happen. Like... at all.
First of all, it's exactly as forced as you may expect. Every single scene and every single line here screams "forced". The original Coming to America was daring, it was fresh and, well, it was... you know... FUN. This? It's just a forced mess. One of those movies that you forget right after you're done watching. Heck, it was actually hard not to fall asleep here. The main idea wasn't really that bad (long story short, the new movie tried to focus on Zamunda instead of Queens), but writing is so terrible that... seriously, how many people worked on the story and screenplay here?
Coming 2 America (the one who came up with the title alone should be punished) is one of those movies where some random people talk about some random stuff and you just sit there, wondering why in the freakin' world should you care and when this torture will finally end. Watching this movie? It's like visiting your distant relatives. It's kinda boring, it's kinda awkward and you can't stop thinking about just how much you want to go home. And guess what? The movie is almost two hours long, so I'm really glad that I watched it at home where it was easy to take a break and do some more exciting stuff. Like watching the paint dry, for example. Watching this movie in one sit? It's plain boring. Sure, humor is a subjective thing, but while I laughed all the time while watching the original (still do), this time? I didn't even smile once. It's THAT uninspired. Every time there was an attempt for a joke, I was like "good grief, seriously?". The original impact so-o-o ins't here...
Also, it's a bit too woke. In a bad way. I mean, don't get me wrong. I like woke stuff. Adds quite a lot to the impact, as long as the writing is right. Then again, you know how it is. There are times when such stuff feels natural. When it does make you care. And there are times when it feels painfully forced, out of the place and actually plays against the writing. You can't just make things interesting and exciting just by saying the right things, you know? You need a good writing to make people feel involved. Here? It feels like nobody even cared. They took one of the most popular comedy movies from eighties, they've tried to re-create some of the most famous parts (like those scenes in the barber shop), they've tried to copy / past some of the old jokes (without much success since, like I said, the original impact is long gone), they've added some woke stuff just because it's a right thing to do and BOOM! Your new Amazon Prime movie is ready. Seriously, guys, those female Ghostbusters were more funny and exciting than this. And I never thought I'll say that. Like... ever!
The only thing I actually liked was Akeem's daughters (one of which is played by Eddie Murphy's real daughter, Bella), but guess what? They've barely used the characters. Seriously, even though there was, like, a ton of potential, the girls barely appeared at the beginning and near the end of the movie. While the rest of the thing was just our painfully generic stuff from all those Eddie Murphy movies nobody really cared about. You know, Dr. Dolittle, Nutty Professor... I really wonder if the man is cursed, or something. After the initial success in movies like 48 Hrs., Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop, the movies with him started to feel EXTREMELY forced in uninspired. And this one? Heck, even Meet Dave was more funny than this.
Not only Coming 2 America was unable to repeat the original success, it's also one of those sequels that actually ruin the original quite a lot. Not only it's forced and isn't funny at all, it ended up ruining good old characters. Lisa McDowell, for example, feels absolutely terrible now, while Cleo barely have a reason to appear. Not only this movie won't make you laugh, there's a big chance it'll actually make you feel sad. Just because seeing a great movie from your childhood being ruined in such a poor way? It's... you know... SAD. Dixi.
First of all, it's exactly as forced as you may expect. Every single scene and every single line here screams "forced". The original Coming to America was daring, it was fresh and, well, it was... you know... FUN. This? It's just a forced mess. One of those movies that you forget right after you're done watching. Heck, it was actually hard not to fall asleep here. The main idea wasn't really that bad (long story short, the new movie tried to focus on Zamunda instead of Queens), but writing is so terrible that... seriously, how many people worked on the story and screenplay here?
Coming 2 America (the one who came up with the title alone should be punished) is one of those movies where some random people talk about some random stuff and you just sit there, wondering why in the freakin' world should you care and when this torture will finally end. Watching this movie? It's like visiting your distant relatives. It's kinda boring, it's kinda awkward and you can't stop thinking about just how much you want to go home. And guess what? The movie is almost two hours long, so I'm really glad that I watched it at home where it was easy to take a break and do some more exciting stuff. Like watching the paint dry, for example. Watching this movie in one sit? It's plain boring. Sure, humor is a subjective thing, but while I laughed all the time while watching the original (still do), this time? I didn't even smile once. It's THAT uninspired. Every time there was an attempt for a joke, I was like "good grief, seriously?". The original impact so-o-o ins't here...
Also, it's a bit too woke. In a bad way. I mean, don't get me wrong. I like woke stuff. Adds quite a lot to the impact, as long as the writing is right. Then again, you know how it is. There are times when such stuff feels natural. When it does make you care. And there are times when it feels painfully forced, out of the place and actually plays against the writing. You can't just make things interesting and exciting just by saying the right things, you know? You need a good writing to make people feel involved. Here? It feels like nobody even cared. They took one of the most popular comedy movies from eighties, they've tried to re-create some of the most famous parts (like those scenes in the barber shop), they've tried to copy / past some of the old jokes (without much success since, like I said, the original impact is long gone), they've added some woke stuff just because it's a right thing to do and BOOM! Your new Amazon Prime movie is ready. Seriously, guys, those female Ghostbusters were more funny and exciting than this. And I never thought I'll say that. Like... ever!
The only thing I actually liked was Akeem's daughters (one of which is played by Eddie Murphy's real daughter, Bella), but guess what? They've barely used the characters. Seriously, even though there was, like, a ton of potential, the girls barely appeared at the beginning and near the end of the movie. While the rest of the thing was just our painfully generic stuff from all those Eddie Murphy movies nobody really cared about. You know, Dr. Dolittle, Nutty Professor... I really wonder if the man is cursed, or something. After the initial success in movies like 48 Hrs., Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop, the movies with him started to feel EXTREMELY forced in uninspired. And this one? Heck, even Meet Dave was more funny than this.
Not only Coming 2 America was unable to repeat the original success, it's also one of those sequels that actually ruin the original quite a lot. Not only it's forced and isn't funny at all, it ended up ruining good old characters. Lisa McDowell, for example, feels absolutely terrible now, while Cleo barely have a reason to appear. Not only this movie won't make you laugh, there's a big chance it'll actually make you feel sad. Just because seeing a great movie from your childhood being ruined in such a poor way? It's... you know... SAD. Dixi.