Coming 2 America Review: Well, You Kind of Are a Mistake

Prairie Grown Reviews is reader-supported. When you purchase something through our links we may earn an affiliate commission.

Eddie Murphy Part 2 has arrived, yes Haunted Mansion I’m looking at you.

What Happens in Coming 2 America?

Coming 2 America follows the story of Akeem 30 years after the first movie. Now, Akeem is King after the passing of his father. With a new external threat from General Izzi, Akeem is now stuck between a rock and a hard place. With no male heir, it seems that Akeem must marry off his daughter to preserve peace in his country. However, from the family seer, Akeem discovers that he has a son in America. He rushes back to find his illegitimate son and brings him back to raise him as a prince

Who Are The Characters in Coming 2 America?

Akeem returns as the newly crowned King of Zamunda. Akeem is a generous, kind, loving man who tries his hardest to do what’s right for his family and his kingdom. He struggles at points trying to find complicated answers when simple ones are right in front of him but he remains a good man that the audience will continue to like.

Lavelle Junson is Akeem’s illegitimate son, from before he met Lisa, who still lives in Queen’s trying to make ends meet. After coming to Zamunda, he tries to fit in but he has a strong personality that seeps through. He is an intelligent and cunning man who tries to find his way into his father’s shadow.

Coming 2 America Review

Coming 2 America was a decent sequel to a great movie, but it isn’t anywhere near as good as the first one. It is a very similar movie to the first one, with solid comedy and an okay plot. I didn’t find it as funny as the first movie, but some of the connections with the original were great.

This movie follows a pretty similar plotline to the original movie, but it doesn’t do as good a job of diving into the plot. The first movie used the plot to create a lot of situational irony, and some pretty hilarious moments. Now we still have quite a few funny moments, but the plot is a lot weaker in this movie and it’s really slow. The comedy isn’t strong enough to cover for the really slow pacing, and it left me feeling bored at points.

Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall are great in this movie, but they take a slightly smaller role. I really enjoyed the way Jermaine Fowler had a larger role, with most of the focus on him. He did a good job of handling the arc of his character, but I would have loved to see a few more scenes between Eddie Murphy and Fowler. The encounters we get are hilarious, but they aren’t as frequent as I would have liked.

Character development and the new characters are really good, just as they were in the first movie. I was impressed that Murphy’s character continues to develop after he is faced with new roles because it adds a secondary story to the main events. The only character-related piece I didn’t like was the fact that Arsenio was nowhere near as involved as in the first movie. The duo of Eddie and Arsenio made the first movie awesome and very funny, and the lack of the duo really stole from the movie’s dynamic.

I loved Coming to America and enjoyed Coming 2 America, but I expected more. The connections back to the first movie were great, but the slow pacing and lack of comedic material made it feel longer than it was. If you are looking for a funny movie, this wouldn’t be my first pick, but if you enjoyed the original one 30 years ago this is worth a try.