Coming 2 America

King Akeem needs an heir to the throne, so it's quite convenient when he finds out he has a 30-year-old son who lives in New York and knows nothing about his father. But the young man from Queens may not be ideal throne material. Eddie Murphy returns to one of his most famous roles and is clearly happy to be in front of the camera again after all these years. In terms of plot, this sequel varies a lot from the original, but the hour and three-quarters passes surprisingly quickly thanks to a likeable cast, a fast pace and an easygoing atmosphere. (03/08/2021)

I found the first Coming to America to be an average comedy with a likable cast, and while I didn't have high hopes for the sequel 33(!) years later, I didn't want to miss it, as it reunited almost all of the cast from the original film. The newcomers, the kids, and veterans Leslie Jones and Tracy Morgan, were rather bland, but not nearly as bad as Wesley Snipes. A message of women's unfair status at the expense of men and ossified traditions runs through the entire film, but that's not surprising to the viewer these days. I liked that even the film reflected itself as a possible unnecessary sequel to a classic. Coming 2 America plays quite unobtrusively on a nostalgic note, and it also impresses with beautiful costumes and plenty of musical interludes. It's not an outright useless film, but on the other hand it doesn't offer any major added value. (03/06/2021)