The big critical rub against Coming 2 America is that is basically a retread of the original -- but the movie knows that it is, embraces it and is better for it. It's a raucous, silly good time and defy anyone who doesn't take themselves too seriously not to enjoy it.
For fans of the original, nearly all your favorite characters come back -- and there is no explanation given for why the aged in the 1988 original are still alive and kicking. For newcomers there are plenty of appealing and attractive new faces including the luminous KiKi Layne (of If Beale Street Could Talk) whose storyline updates the original's subtle pro-feminism message.
If I have a quibble -- and its not entirely a small one -- is that I wanted more Eddie Murphy. At some point his surprise new male heir (played by the affable but not magnetic Jermaine Fowler) takes center stage and this is where the movie loses a little stream. Fowler isn't Eddie Murphy -- who is -- and so his romantic subplot, while sweet, feels a little leaden.
Still, overall the movie moves at a breakneck pace with glorious dance sequences (albeit with the some problematic stereotypes), a bevy of incredible celebrity cameos and some killer supporting comic turns from a who's who of black comedians including Tracy Morgan and a scene-stealing Leslie Jones.
The movie is curiously much more family-friendly than the original (save for one great gag involving royal bathers that's a callback to the first film). It's rated PG-13, which is perhaps a nod to how much of a family film the original has become in its more neutered TV form. A part of me wanted a little bit of a sharper edge from this film -- but it made me laugh and smile so much I soon realized it was delivering me what I had always wanted warm laughs and comforting nostalgia.
Is that going to change cinema as we know it? Of course not. And while Murphy is as lovable as ever here, he's not challenging himself the way he did in his bravura turn in Dolemite Is My Name. But who cares? He's earned this victory lap and it's great to see him back at what he does best after years of forgettable movies or just plain no movies at all.
And he had the graciousness to not only resurrect the best aspects of the first film as well as its positive messages -- but he provides great material for all his old co-stars, especially Shari Headley as his wife. In a role that could have easily just been window dressing, she gets to give a fully-fledged performance and is so striking on screen you'll be mad that she hasn't popped up in more stuff since the 1988 classic.
I think the original Coming to America has endured because it's the Murphy movie that had the best blend of heart and hysterical laughs and this new film doesn't surpass it, but it's a worthy successor all these years later. I don't think it could have been much better and they clearly spared no expense to make the best version of this movie they could.
I'll always have a soft spot for the fictional Zamunda -- and I am so glad I got to make the journey one more time.
No comments:
Post a Comment