AT THE MOVIES: THE BINGE

by Isy Jordan

Coming 2 America
Director: Craig Brewer, John Landis
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Leslie Jones, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, Wesley Snipes, and more.


The African monarch Akeem learns he has a long-lost son in the United States and must return to America to meet this unexpected heir and build a relationship with his son.

I've been anticipating this movie for months now. As a fan of the first film, Coming to Amercia, I was just hoping that the second movie would come close to the fantastic comedy of the first. I wasn't disappointed.

We pick up with Akeem and Lisa, his queen, thirty years after the first film. In that time, he's still prince of Zamunda but his father is dying. Akeem and Lisa have three daughters but no sons. Since a woman can not sit on the throne of Zamunda, the pressure is on Akeem by his father and an enemy tribe to figure out how to move forward with no male heir.

A shaman has divined the answer. Akeem, before he met Lisa in the first film, apparently had a fling under the influence of drugs with a woman in Queens and unknowningly fathered a son. Not thinking he has any options, Akeem takes off to America to find his bastard son and heir. When he brings his grown son back to Zamunda with his mother (Jones) in tow, everything is upended to hilarious effect.

I can't stress enough how much I enjoyed this! The story itself wasn't an exact mirror of the first one but all the references to the first movie meant so much. The barbershop guys were back, the reverend, Sexual Chocolate, and much, much more. The sequel was not only a great story in its own right, it was a love letter to the first film.

The acting was good. The comedy was sublime. I cackled through the second half of the movie and enjoyed it thoroughly. It is rated PG-13 for some innuendo, drinking, and inappropriate humor. At one hour and 50 minutes, it was over way too fast.

If you're a fan of the first movie, this is a must-see. If you love a good comedy, head on over to Amazon and check it out today. I highly recommend it.

Isy

Isy