Coming 2 America is a comedy, a sequel to 1988's Coming To America. In the years since the events of the first film Akeem(Eddie Murphy) and Lisa(Shari Headly) have settled in Zamunda and had three daughters. With his father the King(James Earl Jones) on his deathbed the neighboring despot General Izzi(Wesley Snipes) his threatening war with the only hope for peace a marriage alliance. Akeem discovers he may have an illegitimate son Lavelle(Jermaine Fowler) from his American adventure that can broker the peace.
Unlike the first film Murphy spreads the focus do the deep supporting cast but is able to easily tap back into Akeem's unwavering positivity and charm. It's a joy to see all the familiar faces, a startling number in fact, and if the story is a little thin and the cast too broad for much character development, it is still fun to revisit this cast of characters again. One of the standouts is the addition of Snipes who clearly relishes the chance to go big and crows and struts his way through his scenes lighting them up.
Gorgeous costuming and inspired set design make this revisit to Zamunda a visual feast and the talented cast, some of whom have dropped off the radar since 1988, make up for the normal pitfalls of sequels decades after their classic counterparts. The pacing drags in the middle, the plot and script a bit obvious and at times oblivious, but ultimately it achieves in recapturing the fun, familial, irreverent feel of the original if not reaching the same degree of quality.
An entertaining retread of characters and a story that may not wow but substantially scratch the nostalgia itch.
Currently streaming on Amazon.
Rent It.
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