Spoiler Alert.
Why fix what’s not broken?
That’s my motto when it comes to movie sequels. With the exception of Princess Diaries and Princess Diaries 2, (because Anne Hathaway is a goddess we should worship), I am prejudiced against most movie sequels, when it is so obvious that there was no need for a second movie.
When the announcement came for Coming 2 America, I was equal parts excited and filled with dread. I hadn’t seen the Eddie Murphy-Arsenio Hall combo in years yet I was aware that some of the ‘jokes’ that flew then, wouldn’t pass now.
Five minutes into the movie and I realize there’s a reason it’s called a comedy. Although it makes an attempt to be seen through serious lens, C2A is first and foremost, a movie that’s designed to make you laugh. When I realized that, I stopped having expectations about the movie, and just enjoyed it.
Coming 2 America follows the story of Akeem Joffer, who is still the crown prince of Zamunda, at least until 30 minutes later when he becomes the king of Zamunda after the death of his father Jaffe Joffer, potrayed by James Earl Jones.
The entire movie is hinged on the discovery that Akeem has an illegitimate son borne of his travails in America thirty-odd years ago, and since all Akeem has are daughters who ‘cannot inherit the throne of Zamunda’, which I think is total bullshit but let us continue.
Akeem finds out he has a son he didn’t know about, his father dies, he becomes King, he starts thinking of what to do. He’s in a dilemma, he could ignore this son and give the position of heir to his first daughter who has been training for the post since she was born, or he could go find a man whose life he has never been a part of, and entrust the throne of Zamunda to him.
The decision is made for him by General Izzi, ruler of the neighboring Nexdoria who comes to threaten war with him, and also bargain for an arranged marriage with one of Akeem’s children and one of his. That incidence pushes Akeem to go back to America and reclaim his son.
The movie gets way too fast paced from here, with the illegitimate son – Lavelle, coming back to Zamunda and trying to pass the Zamundan princely test, in addition to navigating the land of strange customs.
We get a little bit of Meeka, Akeem’s first daughter whose name is an anagram of his, screen time, showing her frustration at being passed over for a man who barely knew anything about the country.
It slows down towards the end, with the brief interactions between Mirembe, the royal groomer and Lavelle, the only warnings we get before they fall in love all of a sudden.
What happens next is typical of most romance movies with this trope, they realize they can’t be together, Prince is miserable with the woman he’s supposed to be with, they run away to America.
A notable scene in the movie that throws back to the original movie is when Lavelle is talking to Bopoto, his intended, and he asks her what she likes, and she replies that she likes whatever he likes. That conversation follows the same pattern Akeem has with his own intended, who happens to be Bopoto’s aunt, with Lavelle realizing that this is not the woman for him, just as his father before him had.
In an impressive and predictable turn of events, Akeem follows Lavelle back to convince him to come back to Zamunda. In his absence, General Izzi attacks Zamunda and his attack is repelled by the combined trio of the Jaffe daughters, with Semmi acting as chaperone.
Akeem returns with Lavelle, Meeka is named the heir, General Izzi is browbeaten into submission, life is good, there is a celebration.
Personally, the highlight of the movie was Davido performing Assurance. No other scene beats it.
Since it was filled with veteran actors, the acting was delivered with expertise. The older ones seemed to take the entire movie like it was just a play they had done a thousand times. The younger actors, particularly, the one who played Meeka, was a tad too serious or maybe she’s just that good an actress, showing her character’s disdain for the entire thing.
Eddie Murphy in particular, seemed like he said everything with a sarcastic undertone. For the entire movie, I couldn’t tell whether he was serious or he was pulling a very elaborate prank. The person who surprised me the most was Wesley Snipes. The last movie I saw Wesley in was Blade so it was a switch up to see him acting in a comedic role.
What probably stood out the most for me was the makeup; the actors who had featured in the first movie looked like they had barely aged at all yet aged enough to play a part thirty years later, particularly Arsenio Hall. That’s what happens when you have makeup artists who know how to work with black people I suppose. The costume budget must have been lavish, the over the top designs with ‘African’ print can bear witness to that.
Coming 2 America was a star studded movie that ran on vibes and plenty nostalgia. The sequel was not needed and frankly, not wanted by a lot of people. The plot was shaky at best and although the acting was superb, not even experienced actors could turn that mess of a story into something worthwhile. The racist and misogynistic jokes were just a sprinkle of another thing that was not needed in that movie.
The first movie was set in an era that people just wanted to laugh, and it delivered. However, this current cinematic era, people want to laugh in addition to having a well thought out plot line, or at least something that looks like it wasn’t written by someone who had watched way too many African Magic.
If you were expecting something as good as the first movie, then sorry to disappoint. If you had no expectations, then you’re good. If you watch the movie and feel like washing your eyes with bleach, then you should probably go re-watch the first one.
