“Coming 2 America” Review
Arsenio Hall (Left) and Eddie Murphy reprise their roles as Semmi and Akeem in “Coming 2 America,” the sequel to the 1988 classic.
“Coming to America” is, without a doubt, one of my favorite comedies of all time with an unbelievably charismatic performance from Eddie Murphy, a sweet story about finding love and some of the best comedy in Murphy’s entire filmography. The film’s sequel, “Coming 2 America,” is definitely inferior but has enough funny moments to make it a perfectly serviceable film.
Set 30 years after the events of the previous film, Prince Akeem (Murphy) has become the ruler of the fictional African nation of Zamunda following the death of his father (James Earl Jones). With Zamunda’s next door country, cleverly titled Nexdoria, on the brink of going to war, Akeem finds out that he has a bastard son named Lavelle (Jermaine Fowler) in New York City.
With his best friend Semmi (Arsenio Hall) goes back to America to find him, bring him to Zamunda and forge an alliance with Nexdoria through the marriage of Akeem’s son with the daughter (Teyana Taylor) of Nexdoria’s insane dictator General Izzi (Wesley Snipes).
Eddie Murphy is in the midst of a career comeback with his incredible performance in 2019’s “Dolemite is My Name” and his Emmy-Award winning hosting of “Saturday Night Live” in 2020 showing that Murphy’s still got it. Murphy brings the same level of talent to his reprisal of Akeem and delivers a charming performance that feels like a legitimate continuation of the original film.
The rest of the cast is pretty strong with most of the original cast reprising their roles from “Coming to America.” Arsenio Hall is fantastic as Semmi and, like in the original film, both Murphy and Hall use make-up effects to play other roles like a sexist preacher, a terrible Prince-wannabe singer and, of course, the barbers and customers of the “My-T-Sharp” barbershop. All of these roles are great to see as are the newcomers like Wesley Snipes and SNL alumni Tracey Morgan and Leslie Jones.
Hall and Murphy also reprise their roles (From Left) as Morris, Mr. Clarence, Sweets (Clint Smith) and Saul in “Coming 2 America,.”
“Coming 2 America” did have several funny moments, but most of them rely on the original film. A lot of the new additions to the humor involve lampooning the culture of today which makes the film more dated than the original. While “Coming to America’s” comedy has held up well over three decades, it’s doubtful that the sequel will fare as well.
The film’s script is incredibly messy with no clear goal. At first, it seems like the main plot will follow Akeem and Semmi finding Lavelle but that’s only a small portion of the film. There’s also a focus Akeem trying being a good father, having lost his way as a king, as well as subplots about his eldest daughter wanting to rule, General Izzi plotting a hostile takeover of Zamunda and Lavelle wanting to marry out of love rather than obligation (which was the exact same lesson from the first film).
Without a clear story, the film suffers. Most of the film is set in Zamunda and is so uninteresting that it makes me wish that Akeem and Semmi had just stayed in the barbershop.
If you’re a fan of the original film and love the idea of Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall reprising their roles, this film has enough laughs to satisfy viewers for one or two viewings. But if you’re looking for a comedy with the same amount of laughs, charm and staying power as the original “Coming to America,” this film just doesn’t have it.
