Coming 2 America (2021)
dir. Craig Brewer
Rated: PG-13
image: ©2021 Amazon Studios
Prince Akeem has a problem. When he becomes King of Zamunda, he’s troubled by the centuries-old tradition of his kingdom which dictates that only a male heir can inherit the throne. Akeem has three daughters and no sons. Luckily for Akeem (and the movie), it is revealed that he does in fact have a male heir, albeit an illegitimate one, living in America. Unfortunately for us, Coming 2 America leans on an outmoded story of Akeem being desperate to cement his legacy through his son, only to make an enlightened realization, in the movie’s final minutes, about his daughters. (This barely counts as a spoiler, since it’s painfully obvious what’s coming within the first fifteen minutes of the movie.) It’s a story that might have felt progressive had it been made in 1988, the same year this sequel’s original installment was released.
If you’ve seen the Eddie Murphy/Arsenio Hall hit Coming to America, you might remember that we saw Prince Akeem’s entire trip to the states, where he searched for and found his true love in, naturally, Queens, New York. He never has sex with anyone while in America, so how could he have a son he doesn’t know about?
Coming 2 America has a tortured answer to this question with a flashback sequence to the events of the first movie; we see a one-night stand of which we – and Akeem – were unaware. The clumsy way in which screenwriter Kenya Barris and writing team Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield explain why Akeem doesn’t remember this plot device of a tryst is downright painful. The filmmakers clearly knew where they wanted the picture to end up, but they had to squeeze and twist and stuff their characters’ history in order to get it there.
We are, however, given the magic of Leslie Jones as a reward for all the plot shenanigans. The Saturday Night Live alum plays Mary, the mother of Lavelle, Prince Akeem’s long-lost heir. Jones is in top form as Mary, who sees the economic potential in her son becoming a prince. This is Jones at her most infectiously funny, and I was excited every time she showed up on screen.
The performances in Coming 2 America, along with the nostalgia that the movie plays to, are its only highlights. To this fan of the first film, it’s a treat seeing Eddie Murphy reprise his roles – in addition to Akeem, we also see Mr. Clarence the barbershop owner, Saul the barbershop customer, and, to my delight, even Randy Watson and his band Sexual Chocolate make an appearance.
Arsenio Hall steps back into the smarmy character Semmi without missing a step. His other characters from the original, the hilarious Reverend Brown and the barber Morris, also return, in addition to a misfire of a new character, Baba, the Zamundan witch doctor.
The least interesting part of the movie is its dramatic center. Lavelle, Akeem’s new heir, must learn how to become a king. He is faced with learning Zamundan history and carrying himself like royalty. We see him make progress in these areas though some spectacularly unimaginative, if-you’ve-seen-it-once-you’ve-seen-it-a-million-times montage sequences. Even Lavelle’s love story arc is trite and predictable.
In order to secure peace with a neighboring nation – this nation is called, wait for it, Nextdoria – Akeem must arrange for Lavelle to marry Nextdoria’s Princess Bopoto, or face war with the country. Nextdoria’s leader, General Izzi, is the brother of Imani, the woman Akeem was intended to marry in the first film before he fled to America and met Lisa, the love of his life. Izzi is anxious to avenge his sister, and he’s happy to do it either through war or by marrying his family into Zamunda’s riches. Wesley Snipes is entertaining as Izzi, especially because of some hilarious dance moves from the actor.
Lavelle has some reservations about this arranged marriage, and things become more complicated when he meets Mirembe, a royal hairdresser. If this seems familiar, it is. It’s a basic retread of Coming to America, except Lavelle, the American in Zamunda, is the fish out of water this time. Nothing about this stale romcom plot is engaging, despite Jermaine Fowler’s amiable performance as Lavelle. Fowler isn’t helped by the clunker of a subplot involving a test to prove Lavelle’s courage that involves clipping the whiskers of a lion.
The well-meaning female-empowering finale, which is so clichéd you could write a synopsis of it without ever seeing the movie, is lip service at best. The positive message is belied by the fact that almost every female character in the movie is given virtually nothing to do. Leslie Jones kills it as a performer, but Mary is inconsequential to the plot. Akeem’s daughters are written as afterthoughts, and his Queen, Lisa, is thrown into only a handful of scenes – although actor Shari Headley hilariously makes the most of one of these in which Lisa gets drunk.
There are laughs to be found in Coming 2 America. Tracy Morgan is his goofy best in a few scenes as Lavelle’s Uncle Reem. Seeing Murphy and Hall play these characters again is like seeing old friends, and I ate up every minute of their side characters. Murphy’s Mr. Clarence and Hall’s Reverend Brown are personal favorites, and I will forever and always laugh uncontrollably at Randy Watson. Coming 2 America may only have a residue of the magic of the original, but it is still there, which is something.
Why it got 2.5 stars:
- There are some laughs in Coming 2 America, but the tortured plot is ridiculous, and the movie is not nearly as progressive as it thinks it is.
Things I forgot to mention in my review, because, well, I'm the Forgetful Film Critic:
- Leslie Jones’s look in the 80s flashback sequence is pure gold.
- Jermaine Stegall’s overly insistent score reeks of what happens when the onscreen action isn’t quite up to par: “Just stick some music over it…maybe that will help sell it.”
- Some great cameos here: Morgan Freeman, Salt-N-Pepa, Gladys Knight, among others.
- I loved the shout out to the Duke Brothers, who were characters in the Eddie Murphy/Dan Aykroyd comedy Trading Places. The late Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy actually made cameo appearances as those characters in the original Coming to America, and it was nice to see the thread carried through.
- Speaking of the Dukes, there’s a bit with Colin Jost that tackles white privilege. It’s pretty toothless, but also a lot of fun.
Close encounters with people in movie theaters:
- Coming 2 America is steaming exclusively on Amazon Prime, which is how I saw it.