Coming 2 America will forever be one of Covid's miracles.

Shaun_of_the_Dude

Considering that this film's post production and launch coincided with COVID 19, it's surprising it got released at all. Kudos to Paramount for completing it and selling it to Amazon.

I'm 30 minutes into this film as it has just been released and I've been happy all day knowing it was to be released. However, not only is this a nostalgia fest from the off (which has both good and bad emotional effects on the viewer), but it also heavily relies on a lot of CGI and you can tell that a lot of the scenes were filmed very, very, very socially distanced and simply cut into the edit. This zaps all of the enjoyment out of the room as what comedy relies on is people in the room.

I get the whole Covid socially distancing thing, and agree - but this was filmed before Covid and whilst you can forgive James Early Jones for doing his parts remotely (as most of the cast too to a degree), there are some scenes where the comic timing is off and you can see it is down to differential directing.

Unfortunately, this film adds to a long succession of films which prey upon your nostalgia without really whetting its appetite. From a personal perspective, it's good to see Eddie Murphy and the cast again - but Paramount were right to flog this to Amazon; I'd probably have never paid my hard earned cash to see this and wait for it to hit TV (which is has - it Amazon Prime the 'New' Direct-to-Video?).

Okay, so after the full viewing I'm quite happy with my original rating. It is nowhere near as bad as some of these reviewers are making out. Not by a country mile. But what it is is a pastiche of everything that made the original what it was. Everyone is in there and everyone plays their part - it's deftly cringe at times, and quite amusing in others. It isn't as funny as the original, but what are you gonna do?

However - In Retcon City, the walls are wide and diverse and a lot of this feels like rewriting ones memoirs.

5/10 - Eddie and co all look good for their respective ages - with respect.

-1 - Whoever told Paramount that 'Arnieing' Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall was a good idea?

score 5/10

Shaun_of_the_Dude 5 March 2021

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw6661276/