Coming 2 America

Behold! For once it was told of an African Prince who went to Queens, New York, America to find the woman of his dreams. A series of complications and eccentric characters came between him and his one true love. But he made through them a better man. Such a tale was told in the feature film Coming to America, and was told further in a sequel, Coming 2 America. We're a year late telling the tale, so let's begin...

Epic Narrator Tone Off...

Anyway, Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) of Zamunda and his Queen Lisa (Shari Headley) have been happily married thirty years with three daughters. King Jaffe (James Earl Jones) is on his deathbed, but he waits to die until the funeral. Before then, he tells Akeem that he has an illegitimate son with a legitimate claim to the throne. General Izzi (Wesley Snipes) of Nexdoria wants to cut through the line of succession by marrying his son Idi (Rotimi) to Akeem's eldest, Meeka (Kiki Layne). So, Akeem and his manservant, Semmi (Arsenio Hall) hop on the royal jet back to Queens.

His son Lavelle (Jermaine Fowler) brings his mom, Mary (Leslie Jones) back to Zamunda. Akeem tries to get his son accustomed to his royal birthright. Lavelle finds himself out of his element, but he does find romance with his royal groomer, Mirembe (Nomzamo Mbatha). An undeterred Izzi decides to have his daughter, Bopoto (Teyana Taylor) marry Lavelle. What's a royal heir to do?

The biggest obstacle of this sequel is its central premise. Specifically, that Lavelle was conceived by, basically, date rape. It treats Akeem as the wrongdoer while depicting him as inebriated. It's so hilarious except that it's not.

It still has some comedic value, though. King Jaffe's pre-funeral is audaciously funny, while Trevor Noah is hilarious as Zamunda News Anchor Totatsi Bibinyana. Lavelle shows some ingenuity when he's tasked to pluck some lion whiskers. Izzi's training regimen includes Dance Dance Revolution and shake weights. It's also hilariously perplexing to guess how old some of the already old bit characters from the first film (usually Murphy or Hall) are now. Hall's new role, the shaman Baba, highlights the hilariously exaggerated old age makeup here. These bit characters earned the film an Oscar nomination for Best Makeup just like the first film did. I have no complaints about that.

Murphy and Hall are good in any one of their roles. Akeem and Semmi, specifically, aren't unlikable together or apart. Akeem could've avoided much of the plot if he overhauled the laws of succession. But it's a simple mistake he rectifies. Lavelle's best scenes come from his relationship with Mirembe. General Izzi is a decent comedic villain. Meeka's arc is the best part of the story; it culminates in an epic battle with Izzi and his men.

I didn't have time for Coming 2 America when it debuted on Amazon Prime last March. Needless to say, I do now. It's an OK sequel, one glaringly unfunny issue aside, but I don't think it's a destined comedy classic like the first film. It's still a great makeup highlight reel much like that first film, though. It's still free after nearly a year on Prime. See it if you want.