Coming 2 America (2021)

Directed by Craig Brewer. Starring Eddie Murphy, Jermaine Fowler, Nomzamo Mbatha, Arsenio Hall, Wesley Snipes, Shari Headley, KiKi Layne, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, Bella Murphy, Akiley Love, Teyana Taylor, John Amos, Paul Bates. [PG-13]

Limp “legacyquel” to the 1988 comedy hit about African prince Murphy finding a woman to marry in Queens, NY. This time, it’s the prince’s illegitimate (and previously unknown) son who needs to get hitched to prevent a war with a militaristic rival nation run by dictator Snipes. Dubbing this second go-round Coming 2 America must have been too hard to pass up, but the title is misleading—far less time is spent in America than “home field” Zamunda, as the plot reversal sees the American-born son finding love on a different continent. Worse, too few efforts are made to turn this into an evolution of the original film’s premise/character-pool instead of a stale rehash full of obligatory call-backs and belabored fish-out-of-water gags. The first Coming to America was hardly a high-quality comedy, but at least its royal-on-a-mission benefited from a magnetic star to make up for the one-note characterization; Jermaine Fowler isn’t Murphy’s equal in terms of charisma, and his “homeboy hustler” stereotype character is even less interesting. Fellow “Saturday Night Live” vets Leslie Jones and Tracy Morgan fail to find anything funny to do in their own underwritten roles (Fowler’s American family members), and Arsenio Hall is underused as Murphy’s old friend/aide. He and Murphy also reprise their caricature-like alternate roles from the original movie, all of them to diminished returns—e.g., the Sexual Chocolate singer comes close to a facsimile of professionalism this time! It’s not uncommon for comedies (sequels, especially) hurting for inspiration to try covering up its thin writing with a slew of celebrity cameos, and this one’s no exception; James Earl Jones and Louie Anderson (his final film) briefly reprise their parts from the predecessor, while “newcomers” Morgan Freeman, Trevor Noah, Colin Jost, and recording artists Salt-n-Pepa and Gladys Knight, among others, also make appearances.

38/100