Movie Review

Coming 2 America offers fun nostalgia trip but little else

The nostalgia for everything related to the 1980s has been in high gear in recent years, popping up in everything from Netflix’s Stranger Things, Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One, and reboots of multiple ‘80s properties. Now, on the heels of the return to the Bill & Ted franchise with the original actors, comes the long-awaited sequel to Coming to America, appropriately titled Coming 2 America.

Thirty-three years after the original, Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) of Zamunda is still married to Lisa (Shari Headley), and he now has three daughters, Meeka (Kiki Layne), Omma (Bella Murphy), and Tinashe (Akiley Love), which puts a crimp in the tradition of having a male heir inherit the throne. Akeem’s ailing father, King Jaffe Joffer (James Earl Jones), surprisingly informs him that he conceived a son during his initial trip to America, sending him on a trip back to Queens to find his son and bring him back to his rightful home.

While the plot involving the son, Lavelle Junson (Jermaine Fowler), starts off promising enough with hilarious introductions of Lavelle’s mom (Leslie Jones) and uncle (Tracy Morgan), things devolve upon the return to Zamunda. Fans of the original film will find some striking similarities in the two films' plots, with Lavelle traveling almost exactly the same road as Akeem, but in reverse.

Directed by Craig Brewer, who also helmed Murphy’s Dolemite is My Name, and written by Barry W. Blaustein, David Sheffield, and Kenya Barris, the film offers plenty of callbacks to the first film but little of substance for the sequel to stand on its own. Instead of finding an interesting way to involve Akeem’s three daughters, the story falls back on most of the same jokes that it made the first time around.

That’s not to say that those things aren’t funny, but there’s only so much pleasure to be had out of rehashing McDowell’s/McDonald’s jokes or seeing Murphy and Arsenio Hall pull quadruple duty as multiple characters. They do some things right, though, including giving Jones and Morgan room to roam, a lavish scene that involves cameos by Morgan Freeman, En Vogue, Salt-N-Pepa, and Gladys Knight, and multiple appearances by Trevor Noah as a Zamundan newscaster.

But those pleasurable moments are few and far between, with most scenes sticking to elements that involve very little effort for either the filmmakers or the audience. On the plot side, it seems like the filmmakers want to have their cake and eat it too, giving lip service to Meeka and her ambitions while still focusing on the antiquated story about Lavelle. Lavelle is shown to be conflicted about his new role, but the approach of the film never sells this aspect.

Murphy (and, to a lesser degree, Hall) is obviously the main draw, and much like the film as a whole, his presence is enjoyable but not impactful. Akeem is not as over-the-top as some of his other roles, and seeing him as a dad makes him recede even more. The filmmakers missed a real opportunity in not giving Layne, who impressed in both If Beale Street Could Talk and The Old Guard, more to do, as she’s much more dynamic than Fowler.

Coming 2 America is far from a disaster, but it doesn’t deliver anything more than surface fun for those who still remember and love the original film. Nostalgia has its place, but it needs to be complemented by something new and meaningful, and that part is all but missing here.

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Coming 2 America is streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.

Jermaine Fowler and Leslie Jones in Coming 2 America.

Jermaine Fowler and Leslie Jones in Coming 2 America

Photo by Quantrell D. Colbert/Amazon Studios

Jermaine Fowler and Leslie Jones in Coming 2 America.

Movie Review

Bob Odenkirk is back as the everyman-turned-hero in new movie 'Normal'

Bob Odenkirk in Normal

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Bob Odenkirk in Normal.

Screenwriter Derek Kolstad, who wrote the first three John Wick movies, has essentially had a blank check to do what he wants in the movie landscape since 2014. In recent years that has meant writing the action series Nobody for Bob Odenkirk, who has turned from a comedian into an unlikely action star in his sixties. Kolstad and Odenkirk are teaming up again in Normal.

A film that tries to evoke Fargo in multiple ways, Normal finds Ulysses Richardson (Odenkirk) serving as a temporary sheriff for the small town of Normal, Minnesota after the previous sheriff died. Knowing he’s just a steward until a new sheriff is elected, Ulysses takes a live-and-let-live approach to the job, letting the deputies (Ryan Allen and Billy MacLellan) do the grunt work and trying to stay out of everyone’s way, including Mayor Kibner (Henry Winkler).

A bank robbery attempt by two non-citizens upsets his best-laid plans in more ways than he can imagine. Not only is he forced to confront a crime not often seen in a town like Normal, but the robbery uncovers secrets that turn the film into an all-out bloodbath. Soon, almost everyone in town becomes involved in what comes to resemble a war, along with — you guessed it — Yakuza henchmen from Japan.

Directed by Ben Wheatley and written by Kolstad, the film is a slight twist on the everyman-turned-hero character Odenkirk played in the two Nobody films. While Ulysses is in law enforcement, he prefers to use words instead of weapons, and it’s only when he’s pushed to the brink that he crosses that line. Naturally, his skills are beyond what anyone would expect of him, allowing him to match up well with people half his age.

The film is not a comedy in the traditional sense, but instead aims for laughs by catching the audience off-guard with its ultraviolence. Some characters are dispatched in shockingly unexpected ways, with one of the only natural reactions to the jarring nature of their deaths being laughter. That’s not necessarily the case for other killings, which range from blasé to sadistic, and the only reason they count as entertainment is because the filmmakers have primed the audience to accept them as such.

After a relatively solid setup, where Wheatley and Kolstad seem to take their time getting to know the main characters, the second half of the film is pure action that dispenses with good storytelling. Like many action movies, there are double crosses, surprise revelations, and more, but the filmmakers don’t seem to care about making sense of any character arcs. All they care about is delivering mayhem, and they succeed on that front.

Odenkirk has perfected the mild-yet-intimidating nature of his action characters, and it is satisfying to see him get the better of those who have done him wrong. He doesn’t run or jump like fellow 63-year-old Tom Cruise, but — with the help of fast-paced editing — he still makes for a credible action hero. The only other actors of any note in the film are Winkler, who’s a nice presence with his sardonic personality, and Lena Headey, whose small role doesn't match up with her experience.

You have to have a certain mindset to enjoy a film like Normal, but if you can abide its over-the-top bloodiness, it’s a serviceable action film. Few would have expected Odenkirk to take on these kinds of roles at this late stage of his career, but he’s making the most of his opportunities.

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Normal opens in theaters on April 17.

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