Finally, the long-awaited sequel of the legendary movie Coming To America has finally arrived. The sequel Coming 2 America premiered on the 5th of March and it was lit. KOKO TV was there to cover the red carpet and will be giving a full load down of fun red carpet moments. But as usual, we are here to give this movie a yay or nay, but I doubt that a movie this big can entirely get a nay. Well, let’s dig in.Coming 2 America is focused on the son of Akeem Joffer, and everything that happened as he comes to Zamunda. Akeem becomes king and we get to see the saying like ”father like son” come into play in capital letters. The movie featured fantastic actors from part one who had us rolling on the floor with laughter and additional characters like Wesley Snipes, Teyana, Rotimi, Rick Ross, Davido, to mention a few. We can’t help but mention that we loved the fact that our very own Davido was featured in the movie. (Lol). That makes us smile. READ ALSO: Movie Review: ”Bridgerton” Is Most Interested In Maintaining A Specific Heterosexual Woman’s Fantasy
The only plot twist this sequel has is the message it carries. At least one message we can take away from this movie is- ”How much we want things to change because we want them to but when we finally get to ”change” that thing to the way we want, do we still have the zeal to maintain and stand by that change we have made”. This message is embodied in the life of Akeem Joffer (Eddie Murphy).
Now taking a closer look at this sequel, I am actually stuck between calling this movie a farce or a sitcom. A farce in the sense that the situations are highly exaggerated and the characters’ response to them does not make sense. And a sitcom in the sense that yes, we have the same characters from part one, and they just seem to be focused on making us laugh than making sense. Coming To America is a legendary movie, no cap about that. When we look at the storyline, the characters, the scenery, the costumes/make-up, and everything, it’s all check for us. But Coming 2 America cannot be compared to Coming to America because part one beats it hands down. Now looking at the high points of the sequel, yes the storyline is great, as a storyline is the bedrock of any story. We love the fact that it is an extension and continuation of part one. We get to see our favorite characters as they have matured and grown. The transformation is beautiful. The fact that they maintained the same characters is good as it helped create a sense of relativity.
But I must point out the old men in the barbers’ saloon, they looked the same way they did in part one which emphasizes that indeed they are make-believe characters, characters made from makeup.
Back to the storyline, it is a solid storyline but a but comes in when we look at parts of the storyline that talk about the reaction of Lisa (Shari Headley) when King Akeem Joffer (Eddie Murphy) brought home his ”bastard son” and his ”one-time mistress”. Come on, Lisa’s reaction was not solid or realistic enough. How can your husband not inform you he has a son, then just out of the blue brings that son home and not just the son, but his mother that your husband slept with and Lisa just accepted it and all she said was Akeem was not the only man she too has slept with.
Yes, it is a comedy, but it seems they were more focused on the comic aspect of the movie and they literarily lost themselves in trying to maintain that comic feel from the beginning to the end.
Again looking at the characterization, yes I already mentioned that having the same characters was a good idea but it seems like the characters in this sequel were highly exaggerated in their roles which makes them lose their verisimilitude and plausibility. Take a look at part one, we all loved it because of the play of emotions, the depth of the characters, the realistic way they responded to the situation they found themselves in. But the sequel lost that that feel a great deal. All we saw was a bunch of people trying to hold on to the comic feel that the movie is known for. The characters here seem unrealistic, in terms of their reactions Come on, look at when Lavelle Junson (Jermaine Fowler) King Akeem’s bastard son as he calls him discovered that he was a prince and he was to follow King Akeem back to Zamunda, the automatic switch from No, I won’t go and Yes I would go was too sudden and quick for it to be realistic. It seems like the way Tom and Jerry would react when they see what they want. Yes, that is the perfect example. There are a whole lot of scenes I can point out but sorry no spoilers here. (Lol). Moving on, a high point of the movie was the beautiful and lovely costumes. They didn’t fall our hands there. In fact, they stepped up a lot on the costumes and make-up. Yes, Zamunda is a fictional African country but they were able to walk around merging African costumes and creating some beautiful costumes used in this sequel. That African touch was definitely evident in the costumes (thumbs up). From the palace maids to the king, and his daughters’ costumes to the dancers’ costumes, and also the way they portrayed the custom and traditions of the Zamunda people was beautiful.
Another check for this movie is the scenery, the set, although not much set was used in this movie but the actions were tricky enough for one not to notice.
The musicality of the entire movie is worth applauding. Listening to the various soundtracks, one can see how each and everyone is an original or a cover and they killed it. The essence of music is to create the mood and also establish the emotions, and tone of that particular scene and I must say for each scene they were able to achieve this, bravo.
Now coming to a low point of the movie, I already mentioned how the characters lack realism in their expression and reactions. Another is the cinematography. In the scene where Prince Lavelle was to cut the whiskers of a sleeping lion, it was so obvious there that the lion was not real. I expected so much more in this aspect considering the fact that Coming To America is not any movie but THE MOVIE that stands out in Hollywood and millions have awaited its sequel. I really expected so much more. Final Thoughts Coming 2 America is a not so terrific sequel, I daresay. Part one still takes the crown, no cap. What we have here is a major replica of the part one that tried but could have been better. One would have imagined a million ways this sequel would turn out but one would never have imagined that we would be seeing a replay of part one with a few changes here and there with additional characters. The additional characters added spice but with the current level the permanent cast had taken this movie, much more was definitely expected. Although we commend the grandeur of the movie, it just did not cut it as much as we expected it to.Photo Credit: Getty
Coming 2 America is focused on the son of Akeem Joffer, and everything that happened as he comes to Zamunda. Akeem becomes king and we get to see the saying like ”father like son” come into play in capital letters. The movie featured fantastic actors from part one who had us rolling on the floor with laughter and additional characters like Wesley Snipes, Teyana, Rotimi, Rick Ross, Davido, to mention a few. We can’t help but mention that we loved the fact that our very own Davido was featured in the movie. (Lol). That makes us smile.
Now looking at the high points of the sequel, yes the storyline is great, as a storyline is the bedrock of any story. We love the fact that it is an extension and continuation of part one. We get to see our favorite characters as they have matured and grown. The transformation is beautiful. The fact that they maintained the same characters is good as it helped create a sense of relativity.
The characters here seem unrealistic, in terms of their reactions Come on, look at when Lavelle Junson (Jermaine Fowler) King Akeem’s bastard son as he calls him discovered that he was a prince and he was to follow King Akeem back to Zamunda, the automatic switch from No, I won’t go and Yes I would go was too sudden and quick for it to be realistic. It seems like the way Tom and Jerry would react when they see what they want. Yes, that is the perfect example. There are a whole lot of scenes I can point out but sorry no spoilers here. (Lol).
Moving on, a high point of the movie was the beautiful and lovely costumes. They didn’t fall our hands there. In fact, they stepped up a lot on the costumes and make-up. Yes, Zamunda is a fictional African country but they were able to walk around merging African costumes and creating some beautiful costumes used in this sequel. That African touch was definitely evident in the costumes (thumbs up). From the palace maids to the king, and his daughters’ costumes to the dancers’ costumes, and also the way they portrayed the custom and traditions of the Zamunda people was beautiful.
Photo Credit: Getty
