The second coming of Eddie Murphy didn’t quite go as planned; Craig Brewer’s Dolomite Is My Name didn’t snare the expected Oscar nomination for the star, and re-teaming with Brewer for sequel Coming 2 America didn’t ring box office bells due to the worldwide pandemic. A fire sale to Amazon Prime for a reported $125 million puts the continuing adventures of Prince Akeen of Zamunda directly into our living rooms, with Murphy now off to film Beverly Hills Cop IV, but there are signs that the general public may not be down to clown with Murphy any more.
A smoking hot comic in clubs and on tv via Saturday Night Live, Murphy’s initial cinematic offerings were incendiary (48 Hours, Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop) but by the time of The Golden Child and Coming to America, the star’s controlling influence had turned things sour. Playing multiple characters instead of coming up with jokes, Murphy became a parody of himself, and successes have been thin on the ground; the voice of the donkey in Shrek doesn’t count. Coming 2 America’s sequel attempts to capture the old magic, but age and time have not been kind to the formula, and much of Brewer’s film sees Murphy playing straight-man to others, never a good idea. There’s also a wealth of strained exposition and world building that works against any laughs; the consideration of the Zamunda’s royal family’s rules doesn’t carry much weight as something to structure a story around. Akeen (Murphy) discovers he has a male heir named Lavelle (Jermaine Fowler) who is discovered in the same area of Queens where Akeen previously visited. Akeen brings the boy home and subjects him to many of the same tests and educational experiences that featured in the first movie.
Let’s look at the credit sheet. If the main story forces an Eddie Murphy movie where there’s a lack of Eddie Murphy, there are more than a few passing compensations; cameos from everyone from Salt-N-Pepa to Gladys Knight, Morgan Freeman swearing in the out-takes, Wesley Snipes in a kilt, and SNL’s Colin Jost as a token white guy who responds amusingly to black-face allegations (”I was meant to be Will Smith in Aladdin!’) In fact, most of the cultural references, from Benson to Idi Amin, seem to land, and it’s fun to see a Wakanda meets Liberace in Vegas country where Prince’s Get Off is seen as a ceremonial tune for the palace.
Coming 2 America is very much a reprise of the first film, but struggling for laughs with Murphy cast as the straight man rather than the comic, it’s left to his side-line latex-heavy impressions to carry the comic weight, namely the barbershop oldies and a very out-of-date Rick James parody named Randy Watson and his band Sexual Chocolate. Newer talents like Leslie Jones and Tracy Morgan seem somewhat at sea here, and it’s hard to imagine that theatrical would have been kind to Brewer’s film. Murphy had it, he lost it, and now, he just wants to party all the time. That’s fine, and he’s in good company, but it’s a tall order to expect audiences to feel the same way with such re-treaded routines and shop-worn gags as displayed here. Sure, it’s enticing to see Jones do the Humpty Dance, but scene after scene of Zamunda’s royal intrigue saps the enthusiasm before the party finally ends.
Never seen the first one and will be stepping clear of this one as well.
Best avoided, very wise…
Eh, meh. I’ll steer clear. Though I did enjoy Dolemite a lot, and the absolutely weirdest part of this movie was that it was based on a real-life story… 😀
look, the first iteration of this wasn’t good – more of same 60 years later is kinda bound to be, well, what we bought the tin for. I do like that they literally have a Wakanda joke in there, as I thought Zamunda was pretty much an early film version. Looking forward to zoning out through the parody of the memories. :p
I hear you, and maybe it’s pointless to be frustrated by the sequel to a film that was hardly much good in the first place…but the trimmings just about keep you going, and we’re starved of this kind of thing, so it’ll have to do for now…
While I loved Donkey from Shrek, I’ll concur that it doesn’t count.
I’ve seen this up on Prime being advertised all over the place. So I thought it was some old Murphy movie that Prime had finally gotten its hands on. I had no idea it was new. I think I’d rather re-watch Shrek I-IV for the umpteenth time than dive into this.
It’s a deep dive into a swimming pool with all the comedic water drained out of it, and a smack of the bonce off the hard tiles at the bottom…better off with the funny donkey…
Shrek it is then!
and I know a guy, who knows a guy, who can look at that interocitor of yours. He’s not cheap though.
Neither am I. I do need help attaching the wires to the clock-tower….
You’re scottish, of course you’re cheap….
Not liking this cheap shot, bunny.
tit for tat
I’d say it was pretty expensive. Cost me at least 10 seconds to type…
Your hospital bills will be expensive…
Phhhh, I’ve worked a deal with them. I supply the corpses for their illegal experiments, I get free treatments….
Beauty treatments, from corpses? Sounds like you…
You don’t get as gorgeously hunky handsome as I am by nature…..
Hmm…
Don’t worry, stunned awe is the usual response. Just means you’re like everybody else. Isn’t that comforting to know you’re normal?
Compared to a mutant like you, yes.
Sounds like they just wanted to milk the brand and didn’t have any new ideas. I can barely remember the first one now. Actually didn’t like Murphy in any of his movies except for his stand-up shows. Oh well.
I stand by his early films, as mentioned above. But it didn’t last long, and the crime sheet just grew while the early work seemed more of an abberation as time went on. Still, Salt-N-Pepa!
With you on that, he was funnier in stand up.
Oh blerk. He should stick with being the donkey. Nope.
He’s good as the donkey, but not so good at standing watching a younger guy do his routines….
I wasn’t keen on him when he was at the top of his game. I really don’t do comedy very well.
I gathered that from reading your comments….
Also, Moran Freeman? Morgan’s sister perhaps?
I’ve launched a full enquiry and Morgan Freeman’s name is spelled correctly. Must be your caramelised eyes, bunny!
I just checked and it’s still wrong! Oh just thought, you’re probably dyslexic being Scottish an’all.
Thou talks gibberish, lad!
Where’s the Y?
There’s no Y in Morgan Freeman…
Sigh.
I was too polite to say anything. I mean, the typos on this site . . . you just have to shake your head and shrug. Bun-bun needs an editor.
Well we have to make allowances because he is Scottish.
Do you think he meant to write Morag?
Well I think he meant Morgan, but then Morag got in the way in his little head so he annihilated the G.