Coming 2 America

Synopsis: Set in the lush and royal country of Zamunda, newly-crowned King Akeem (Eddie Murphy) and his trusted confidante Semmi (Arsenio Hall) embark on an all-new hilarious adventure that has them traversing the globe from their great African nation to the borough of Queens, New York - where it all began.

Movie Review:

“Coming 2 America” is directed by Craig Brewer and is the long-awaited sequel to the 80’s classic. I found it not as good as the original film, but it has some laughs and is entertaining to watch. Eddie Murphy returns to play Prince Akeem who after 30 years is crown King of Zamunda. Eddie Murphy might be the best thing in the film and his character is charming and hilarious. Arsenio Hall returns to play his best trusted advisor Semmi and he is incredibly funny in this role. Murphy and Hall still have chemistry after all these years and share some great moments on screen. I enjoyed all the actors who returned like Shari Headley, John Amos and James Earl Jones (Murphy’s father) even though he was only on screen for about 15 minutes. However, Leslie Jones and Tracy Morgan’s characters were too silly. A new character added to the film was General Izzi played by Wesley Snipes. He is a villain-type who tries to get his son to marry so he won’t have to go to war. When King Akeem finds out that he has a bastard son in New York, he decides to go there and bring him home. Jermine Fowler plays Murphy’s 30-year-old son. Fowler is very charismatic and his father/son relationship with Eddie Murphy is the heart of the film. The biggest problems I had with this movie is that it feels like a repeat of the original movie with stale jokes that are outdated and not funny. And I thought the ending was over the top ridiculous. Finally, the movie has too many characters and subplots. Despite some major flaws, the two lead actors make this an entertaining comedy sequel worth watching. I am giving “Coming 2 America” a 3 out of 5 stars.

Director: Craig Brewer

Cast: Eddie Murphy, Shari Headley, Arsenio Hall, Wesley Snipes, Leslie Jones, John Amos, Kiki Layne, Jermaine Fowler and James Earl Jones

Runtime: 110 minutes