When
I heard that Eddie Murphy was doing a sequel to Coming To America
called Coming 2 America, I was thrilled. I loved most of Eddie's movies
from the 1980s. I'm not sure what I would consider my favorite, but
Coming To America ranks high among them. Having finally seen the
sequel, I can honestly say it didn't disappoint me. I am at a little bit
of a loss as to why it's receiving so much hate from people on the
internet.
When you talk sequels to comedies,
let's be honest about it. People enjoy the rhythm and the humor of a
particular movie, and it's sequel doesn't usually change it up too much
in many cases. If we go back to the 1980s, I would point out a movie
like Fletch and the sequel Fletch Lives. Both movies did well at the box
office. All they did with Fletch Lives is take Chevy Chase's character
from one location and put him in another location. Beyond that, it's
Chevy doing what he does best. There's also the Police Academy movies. I
think they all did pretty decent at the box office and the fans enjoyed
them, but if you've seen one, you've seen them all.
People
debate whether a movie should have a sequel decades after the last
installment. It's been over 30 years since the first Coming To America.
This puts people in a different frame of mind, or I think that might be
what Eddie was thinking when he decided to go back to the franchise. The
reason he was inspired to do that was he noted that of all of the
movies he has done, this is the one that rose to a sort of cult status.
For instance, there is the case of the burger restaurant in Southern
California that is decorated like McDowell's for Halloween.
One
thing I will say about this sequel is it didn't really take the idea in
a dramatic new direction. It followed the established formula. It
introduced a few new characters with most of the the old favorites and
didn't stray too far from the spirit of what the first movie was about. I
feel like the message it conveyed was ultimately the same.
One
of the things that made the original movie iconic was the fact that
Eddie and Arsenio Hall created some entertaining characters. In fact, I
think it's safe to say that they felt obligated to return to those
characters. It's almost like if they didn't do that, what's the point?
This
meant that we got to see the characters from the barber shop, Randy
Watson and Sexual Chocolate and Reverend Brown, among others. In fact,
this movie even gave a nod to one of Eddie's other popular 1980s movies,
Trading Places. We saw the great grandson and great grand nephew of the
Duke brothers, and he actually fit in well with what they used him for
in this movie. Some people are saying at times this movie acted like a
"greatest hits" revisited from the first movie, and I don't disagree
with that. I think that was one of the points in making the movie. It
plays on people's love of nostalgia.
My biggest
concern was whether the movie would go down the woke path that other
franchises have, most notably Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who and The
Terminator. Given the fact that Eddie's a Akeem character had three
daughters and no son, the stage was set for it. However, I don't think
that's what happened in this case. I could say more, but that would
require me giving away the plot of the movie. They brought back several
of the actors from the old movie, and the new actors did a good job in
their respective rules.
I can't find too much
to complain about here. I pretty much knew what I was getting into when I
chose to watch this movie. In fact, I was counting on it. I don't know
what people were expecting. I think there are those people that are
going to complain about anything for the sake of complaining, and others
may have had higher standards than they should have given the material
being presented here. Coming 2 America is good for what it is, and I say
you should enjoy it for what it is. It's a nostalgic trip down memory
lane starring one of the funniest actors and comedians from the 1980s.
