Directing: B
Acting: B+
Writing: B
Cinematography: B
Editing: B+

Let’s face it, when it comes to Eddie Murphy’s record in film roles over the past twenty years, to call it spotty is to be generous. Many would argue that extends even further back into a good portion of the nineties, but at lest in that era he managed films that consistently struck a chord with wide audiences. After voicing Donkey in Shrek (2001) and then again three more times (with diminishing returns), he kind of coasted, with a couple notable exceptions: an Oscar-nominated supporting turn in the very good Dreamgirls (2006), and a comeback of sorts in Dolemite Is My Name (2019).

So one could be forgiven for having low expectations of a sequel to one of his early comedy classics from the eighties, 32 years in the making. It’s not that such a long wait guarantees a bad movie; Blade Runner 2049 (35-year gap) and Mary Poppins Returns (54-year gap) worked out all right, to varying degrees. And trafficking more in nostalgia than anything else is always a tricky proposition—how quickly will the new installment be forgotten, as compared to the original?

The minor miracle of Coming 2 America is that, for the most part, it works surprisingly well. Sure, a whole lot of it serves merely as callbacks to gags from the 1988 film, but director Craig Brewer (who also directed Dolemite Is My Name) and a team of six credited script writers—usually a bad sign—add plenty of modern flourishes and goofy punchlines to keep it entertaining, moving at a steady clip.

The primary goal of this movie is apparently just to be goofy, silly fun, just like its predecessor was. By that standard, it’s wildly successful. I’ve seen plenty of “better”—and, in some senses, less problematic—comedies that still did not succeed in making me laugh with the same frequency. There’s something infectiously joyous about this film’s fun-loving sensibility, even as you begin to see some cracks in its construction.

Coming 2 America makes an effort to update the dated themes of the 1988 original for a world that has changed in many ways, with varying results. The original had been rated R and this one is PG-13, and that is no detriment at all; the only difference now is it doesn’t bother with needlessly excessive profanity and pointlessly gratuitous nudity. In fact, some of the gags of the first film predicated on sexist and patriarchal foundations are here turned on their head.

It is a bit of an irony, though, that while this film quite deliberately brings several strong female characters into the fold, including Prince Akeem’s three warrior-trained daughters, the plot revolves around a male character. Lavelle Junson (a very handsome Jermaine Fowler) is discovered to be Akeem’s “illegitimate” son, who must be located by Akeem in Queens and brought back to be the male heir to the throne of Zamunda. The lesson of women being just as capable rulers as man is very much a part of this plot. but it’s still Lavelle’s story, which provides an excuse for Akeem (Murphy) and his trusted sidekick Semmi (Arsenio Hall) to return to America.

Given that Lavelle comes back to Africa with his mother (an always entertaining Leslie Jones) and uncle (an always entertaining Tracy Morgan) to discover his fairy-tale riches, a good majority of the film takes place in the fictional country of Zamunda. (Side note: it’s a fair point to note that what Black Panther is lauded for, presenting Wakanda as a self-sufficient African country ruled by its own people and flourishing on its own terms, is something Coming to America did first, three decades prior.) Only two sequences, both relatively brief, take place in America—specifically New York City—just long enough for us to encounter many of the same comic supporting characters also played by both Murphy and Hall, including the old men in a Queens barber shop who by any sense of logic should have died ages ago, but in this world evidently haven’t aged a day.

Keeping most of the action in Zamunda, however, is what makes Coming 2 America more interesting. My favorite part is Wesley Snipes as not the villain per se, but certainly the antagonist: the father of the arranged bride abandoned by Akeem in the first film, intent on marrying off his daughter to Lavelle in a truly archaic means of brokering peace between countries. (Some things, this movie doesn’t quite keep up to speed with the times. The same goes for its well-meaning but inconsistent approach to gender issues, including two gags in reference to gender identity which, while not overtly mean spirited, are also misguided and certainly unnecessary.) Snipes gives perhaps the best performance in the film, making it the most fun and entertaining whenever he is onscreen. His comic talents are too seldom coaxed out of him.

In spite of some minor writing missteps, Coming 2 America still somehow winds up being much more fun than just about anyone might have expected it to be. Reviews have been predictably mixed, but surprisingly, the critical consensus on this one is still slightly higher than that of the first film. It brings back a lot of the minor characters from the first film, without them ever feeling shoehorned in, which is an impressive feat in its own right; the film features countless more cameos even on top of that. There’s a lot of delicate balancing going on here, which means it could easily have been a genuine disaster. In the end, I found myself thinking I would not have minded seeing this one in theaters were they open; no one expects this to be a masterpiece, and it’s just too buoyantly good-humored to be a disappointment on any real level. This movie simply doesn’t bother to take itself seriously, succeeding at goofy fun without ever getting too deep into hokiness or sentimentalism. Call it “mostly harmless”—I had a good time.

*A visit to familiar territory that’s better than you suspect.*

Overall: B