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‘Coming 2 America’ Is Watchable And Bland, But We Already Knew That
The Federalist ^ | March 11, 2021 | Mike Culton

Posted on 03/11/2021 9:03:25 AM PST by Kaslin

As we wait for theaters to open up again and studios to stop dragging their feet, 'Coming 2 America' is a passable distraction.


To paraphrase Lavelle Junson, people don’t want to see a sequel to an old movie from 30 years ago that no one asked for. Yet, other than standard-issue Disney/Marvel/DC and the occasional sleeper indie hit, we’ve been fed a steady cinematic diet of sequels and reboots to properties from the Reagan-Bush era.

“Coming 2 America” is merely the latest entry in the never-ending lineup of stale nostalgia bait. Although occasionally amusing, like its soulless siblings, the follow-up to the endearing 1988 comedy is shallow, tired, and ultimately lacking; typical of the entertainment industry’s output over the past ten years. Yet we just can’t get enough of it.

Junson’s observation may be astute but, of course, we know it’s completely wrong. A ravenous market for 1980s and ‘90s reboots and sequels still exists, and even those of us who should know better get foolishly sucked in. We grew up with these characters, so it’s only natural to crave fresh and interesting stories, watch them grow, and have them overcome new challenges.

The original “Coming to America” features a young Prince Akeem Joffer (Eddie Murphy) who is arranged to be married in the exotically fictional African kingdom of Zamunda. Frustrated with his predetermined and pampered life, he breaks off the engagement to seek true love and experience a “normal life” in America (where else but Queens, N.Y.) with his mischievous pal Semmi (Arsenio Hall).

Overcoming a hilarious socio-economic culture shock, they meet a motley crew of characters along the way as Akeem courts Lisa (Shari Headley), the daughter of a fast-food entrepreneur who’s having relationship problems of her own with a boyfriend who’s set to inherit a fortune from a line of “Soul Glo” urban hair care products.

Although initially met with a lukewarm reception, “Coming to America” built a loyal following over the years with its unique brand of humor, interesting characters (most of whom are played by Murphy and Hall), and humble urban settings. Since most of the cast was set to return, the announcement of a sequel was somewhat promising. More romantic, cross-cultural misadventures? A new generation of Zamundans and a secret heir to the throne? The potential was there, especially for us ‘80s kids.

Instead, we get a slapdash sequel with a loosely interconnected set of references to the original material, a razor-thin (and nonsensical) plot, all-too-familiar tropes, and stunted characters that wind up where they ended up in the last movie.

Eddie Murphy’s Prince Akeem discovers that while in America back in ’88, he was drugged and raped by Leslie Jones’s Mary Junson, which produced a son, Lavelle. Yes, date rape is the inciting incident, but this proves to be more of a comedic beat than a felonious assault.

Despite him having three able daughters, only a male heir can assume the throne. With a ruthless General Izzi vying for Zamunda’s riches, Akeem is compelled to bring his illegitimate son back to the kingdom and install him as a prince to curb Izzi’s fashionable assassins. To keep the peace, the Prince of Zamunda must wed the daughter of General Izzi in an arranged marriage. Sound familiar?

But what about finding your one true love and forging your own way? Have you forgotten who you are, Simb—I mean, Prince Akeem?

In a slightly effective spin on the original’s fish-out-of-water trope, there are several grrlpower moments in the third act, which reaffirm that indeed, women can be strong capable leaders too. Beyond that, we get little else other than barely warmed-over leftovers from a McDowell’s Big Mick meal.

They dig up just about everyone from the first movie, from the rapping Peaches and Sugar Cube twins to an ageless Shari Headley, who returns to play Lisa. Noticeably and sorely missing are Eriq La Salle’s Darryl and the hilarious Soul Glo jingle that made his family rich. Everyone and everything else falls in line with nearly identical story beats and jokes that barely land.

The comedy element lacks the original’s Soul Glo moment, as well as the social satire that made the property relevant and enduring. The Soul Glo commercial and its amazing musical accompaniment are some of the most laugh-out-loud moments of ‘80s cinema.

The “Black Awareness” grifting operation and Queens’s socio-economic power structure that mirrored Zamundan society are replaced with cheap references and bland social justice messaging. Without strong gags or social commentary — even as mild as it was back then — movies like this quickly fade from memory with very few reasons to keep it on your watch list.

Watching these once-charming royals have a bit of fun while going through the motions reminds us once again how creatively bankrupt our own Kings and Queens of Tinseltown truly are. Honestly, if a property like “Coming to America” needs to be revived, at least give it some life and do it justice. What was needed was an exploration of their world through a modern lens — indeed, we’re starving for satire that pokes at our conventions and communities.

Yet, for fear of the social media mob, not only won’t Hollywood recreate the brand of satire that made “Coming to America” such a success, it’s becoming clear that they simply can’t. The writers, producers, and production companies are so removed from mainstream society that they’re no longer able to meaningfully connect to their targeted audience. They know what worked before, so they regurgitate the same themes and narratives, but they fail to understand why they worked and what would work better for today’s movie-going public.

The beauty of the original “Coming to America” was its ability to cross racial, social, and economic lines delivering a familiar, crowd-pleasing story and featuring likable characters doing their best in an authentic, lived-in environment. Much of “Coming 2 America,” however, takes place in a fictional world, inside a palace, with aging talents doing more to entertain each other than entertaining us, the people. Perhaps this is the real social satire that this movie, and many others like it, unintentionally achieve.

If you’re looking for a Joffer family reunion, you won’t be disappointed, but you’ll probably be underwhelmed. There are a few bright spots for sure, like Wesley Snipes’s bizarrely wonderful performance and Jermaine Fowler admirably keeping up with the veteran cast.

Still, “Coming 2 America” isn’t a terrible film. It’s a passable distraction as we wait for theaters to open up again and studios to stop dragging their feet. Like good and loyal subjects, we’ll gobble up the next reboot too.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: comedies; coming2america; comingtoamerica; hollywood; moviereviews; movies; racist; sequels
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To: shotgun

“... And there was a time in this country, a long time ago, when reading wasn’t just for fags and neither was writing. People wrote books and movies, movies that had stories so you cared whose ass it was and why it was farting, and I believe that time can come again!”


41 posted on 03/11/2021 11:55:15 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Zack Attack

What happened to Soul Glo?


42 posted on 03/11/2021 11:57:59 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Kaslin

I really enjoyed the original and was looking forward to the sequel. What a disappointment. It’s one of the worst movies that I’ve watched all the way through. I wish i had that hour and forty five minutes back.


43 posted on 03/11/2021 11:58:33 AM PST by FreedomForce
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To: dfwgator

Thank you President Not Sure!


44 posted on 03/11/2021 12:01:54 PM PST by shotgun
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To: Kaslin
The original was mildly amusing, McDowell’s arcs not arches, etc.

It was a good movie, not a great one.

The best line in the movie belonged to Randolph Duke:

“Mortimer! We’re back!

45 posted on 03/11/2021 12:30:07 PM PST by GreenLanternCorps (Hi! I'm the Dread Pirate Roberts! (TM) Atsk about franchise opportunities in your area.)
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To: Kaslin

” he was drugged and raped by Leslie Jones’s Mary Junson”

Umm, to be fair, she smoked a doobie with him, and he was just a lightweight and didn’t remember what happened afterwards. It’s not like she dosed him with horse tranquilizers or something and pulled a “Cosby”.


46 posted on 03/11/2021 12:47:14 PM PST by Boogieman
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To: GreenLanternCorps

There is a reference to Duke & Duke in the new film, but obviously the actors themselves only appear in portraits on the wall.


47 posted on 03/11/2021 12:48:07 PM PST by Boogieman
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To: Rummyfan

“After Trading Places and 48 HRS what the heck happened to him?!”

He had kids, and decided he didn’t want to make movies that he couldn’t watch with his children, so he cut out all the swearing and dirty jokes that were probably the best parts of his act.

Now that his kids are grown he seems to be trying to get back in his old groove again, but not that successfully so far.


48 posted on 03/11/2021 12:50:14 PM PST by Boogieman
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To: qam1

Like a “Ferris Beuller’s Kid’s Day Off” type movie?


49 posted on 03/11/2021 1:21:24 PM PST by Bikkuri (If you're conservative, you're an "extremist." If you're liberal, you're an "activist.")
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To: Kaslin

I saw Coming 2 America and Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) on Amazon the past week and they were both bad. Terminator was far worst. Linda Hamilton face had more wrinkles then a Shar Pei dog and they used the sharping tool to emphasize them all.

Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall are both talented but the story was no good and they had this poor teenage girl wearing a nose ring with a gold chain from it to her ear. Looked disgusting plus only cattle have nose rings.


50 posted on 03/11/2021 2:40:16 PM PST by minnesota_bound (I need more money. )
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To: Kaslin

The original was plagiarized and the studio got sued by the writers. They won. Wonder is the settlement included the rights, guess they did.

Main writer was Art Buckwald.


51 posted on 03/11/2021 2:53:17 PM PST by Fledermaus (The Republican Party is DEAD! It took 160 years but The Whigs Struck Back!)
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To: rlmorel

With the streaming companies I end up doing that a lot. Watching things I would never have thought of, and sometimes there are real gems out there.


52 posted on 03/11/2021 3:37:26 PM PST by Sam Gamgee
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To: Kaslin

Watched it last night. It was stupid. It was fun. I never would have gone to the theaters for it, but it killed a Wednesday night.


53 posted on 03/11/2021 3:40:01 PM PST by Vermont Lt
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To: Kaslin

Not a chance.
I’ve been Awakened (Woke 180 )


54 posted on 03/11/2021 3:56:48 PM PST by Vinnie ( )
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To: Sam Gamgee

My wife and I use the libraries a lot, too. We have about 75 libraries in a network, you can search and order from any of them online, and they will deliver it to the library nearest to you.

I saw a very good movie last night, a British movie called “Operation Daybreak” about the assassination of a Nazi Reinhard Heydrich (which resulted in the complete liquidation of the town of Lidice and the execution of 350 people in the town)

I didn’t have high expectations, but thought it was very well done.


55 posted on 03/11/2021 4:00:08 PM PST by rlmorel ("I’d rather enjoy a risky freedom than a safe servitude." Robby Dinero, USMC Veteran, Gym Owner)
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To: Kaslin

Saw it on Amazon Prime last weekend. It was awful and should be embarrassing for anyone involved in this. It reminded me of 30s and 40s movies with Mandan Moreland Stepan Fetching etc.


56 posted on 03/11/2021 4:11:28 PM PST by airedale ( )
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To: rlmorel

Will have to put that on my list. Ashes in the Snow is about the deportation of Lithuanians by Stalin while he was our ally in WWII.

We moved to a smaller town so the library system is not as good as it was before. But yes we use to put tons of movies on hold. Why pay for a movie if you don’t have to? Sadly COVID is now an excuse to make our library system even worse. For some DUMB reason for example we can only drop off our items during business hours which are 1 to 4 every day only. Still puzzled why COVID equates to less open hours at the library. But this is also Canada, so...


57 posted on 03/12/2021 11:26:49 AM PST by Sam Gamgee
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To: Rummyfan

“After Trading Places and 48 HRS what the heck happened to him?!”

He became a Holy Man.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYkxTVBYwvE


58 posted on 03/12/2021 8:28:31 PM PST by Zack Attack
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