Coming 2 America is the sequel to Coming to
America. Set three decades after the
events of the first movie (which is around the same time that passed between
the release dates of the two movies), it sees Prince Akeem Joffer (Eddie
Murphy) getting crowned as king of Zamunda, after the death of his father King
Jaffe Joffer (James Earl Jones). Soon
after assuming the throne, King Akeem immediately faces a royal crisis. Zamundan tradition dictates that only a male
heir can ascend to the throne. However, he’s
only sired daughters with his wife Lisa McDowell (Shari Headley). This makes Zamundan vulnerable for a hostile
takeover by General Izzi (Wesley Snipes), the dictator of the neighboring
nation of Nexdoria.
But then, King Akeem learns that he
has a bastard son. Apparently, when he
and his best friend/aide Semmi (Arsenio Hall) visited Queens, New York 30 years
ago, he had a one night stand (this occurred after the nightclub scene in the
first movie, which was before he met Lisa) with a random woman named Mary
Junson (Leslie Jones). Akeem had forgotten
all about this, because Mary got him inadvertently high on drugs that night. Believing that this is the answer to his
problems, Akeem once again travels to Queens with Semmi, so that he can
reconcile with his son, Lavelle Junson (Jermaine Fowler), whom he intends to bring
back to Zamundan and groom as heir. This
move, however, upsets his eldest daughter, Princess Meeka (KiKi Layne), who has
been dreaming and preparing all her life to succeed Akeem.
Coming to America is one of the movies that I vividly remember watching with my parents
as a toddler (we saw the TV-friendly version, i.e. the nude scenes were
cut). Young as I was, I enjoyed it
during that first viewing, as I did manage to follow the plot and appreciate
humor for the most part. And with each
subsequent re-watch through the years, I’ve continued to find it
enjoyable. As a result, it’s become one
of my most favorite Eddie Murphy movies.
Meanwhile, it’s immediately evident
that Coming 2 America is just not as
good as Coming to America. But at least, for a sequel that took 30 years
to happen, it doesn’t feel “too late” at all.
It’s been trashed by most critics and audiences, but personally, I don’t
think it’s that terrible. Sure, it has
flaws and problematic elements, and it doesn’t offer anything novel. But I think its enjoyable aspects still
outweigh its weaknesses and failings. For
what it is, a dumb popcorn comedy, it adequately entertains, in my opinion.
True, it does have plenty of
retreads and recycled gags. And I guess
that turned off many. But somehow, in my
case, that didn’t bother me. Rather, it
was a delight to see Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall revisit their multiple
characters, and I actually thought the movie displayed some degree of charming self-awareness
and wittiness when presenting callbacks (especially with Akeem’s barking
ex-fiancee).
Admittedly, the comedy this time
around is less nuanced and clever. Again,
a significant amount of gags rely on repeating elements from the first
movie. Nonetheless, the jokes, both new
and old, honestly succeeded in making me laugh a couple of times.
Moreover, it felt to me that Coming 2 America was emitting so much
sanguine energy. That was probably what ultimately
won me over. It was as if everyone
involved with its production had so much fun working on it (and if the mid-credits
behind-the-scenes clips are any indication, they likely did), that their joy
got instilled into the essence of the movie itself.
Wesley Snipes was particularly
seemingly having a blast while parodying a stereotypical African warlord. He stole the show with his performance. This may be a case of recency bias, but when
it comes to caricatures of dictators, Wesley Snipe’s General Izzi trumps Sacha
Baron Cohen’s Admiral General Aladeen.
Lastly, you know what? I actually liked Leslie Jones in this
movie. This is the first time this ever
happened. Prior to this, I hated her in
every movie I saw her in. I used to find
her characters – even the animated ones she voiced – very obnoxious. But in this movie, I was surprised to find
her likable.
To sum it up, Coming 2 America isn’t great, but when given the chance, there’s
fun to be had from it. The first movie
is undoubtedly superior and grander, but Coming
2 America, for me, is a satisfying, amusing follow-up.
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