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I grew up with COMING TO AMERICA, it’s one of my most watched comedies of all time. I love it so much that it’s hard to watch a sequel released 33 years later without constantly thinking of how special the original was and comparing the two.
I knew going in that this sequel wouldn’t come close to the quality of the original, so I tried to lower expectations. I sat down and for the first 15 minutes I had a smile on my face as it leant into the nostalgia of the original.
Then the film settled into its main plot of Akeem tracking down his ‘bastard’ son and from there the quality dipped. I wasn’t bored, but we started spending less time with Akeem, instead focusing more on the son.
Jermaine Fowler does a solid job as the heir to the throne but he’s no Eddie Murphy and his scenes just didn’t excite me. Some will find his mother, played by Leslie Jones grating but I found her funny, I like her. Even in GHOSTBUSTERS she made me laugh.
Wesley Snipes joins the cast and he’s brilliant. He lights up the screen every moment he appears. The way his character links back to the original is clever.
Arsenio Hall brings back all his classic characters from the first film including a new character, Baba. This character so damn funny that I wish we got more of him.
I was worried the returning Shari Headley who plays Akeem’s wife Lisa would be sidelined in favor of the new characters, and for the first act she is, but thankfully she’s given much more to do as the film goes on.
The trio of Akeem’s daughters are well acted and I liked their aspect to the plot and how it plays into the final act, though from the get go it’s pretty obvious where the film is heading for his oldest daughter.
I enjoyed COMING 2 AMERICA, sure it’s far from perfect, it has its flaws. The PG13 rating doesn’t help, but there is a genuineness to the story and moments of quality. It made me laugh in spots, and seeing everyone return was wonderful. It does though feel like a watered down version of the original, but overall it’s entertaining enough to warrant its existence. Just don’t go in expecting the same quality of the original.
