Eddie Murphy's original "Coming To America" (1988) is a guilty pleasure of mine, it's silly but good-hearted fun.
When I heard Eddie was doing a sequel this year -- 33 years later!!! -- I was intrigued. Then I heard Arsenio Hall was reprising his role -- even more intriguing.
In fact an amazing total of ten actors reprise their roles: John Amos, Paul Bates, Shari Headley, James Earl Jones, Louie Anderson, Clint Smith, Garcelle Beauvais, and Vanessa Bell. The cast looks surprising unweathered. Wesley Snipes gets a chance to mug and dance. Trevor Noah has a bit role, Colin Jost has a bit role, Tracy Morgan has a role, Morgan Freeman has a role, Eddie's real daughter Bella plays one of his daughters in the film, some old musical groups from the '80s pop up unexpectedly. There's enough singing and dancing to almost make it a musical, but updated for 2021. This is a movie that doesn't take itself too seriously, and it's almost as much fun as the original. There's even a scene about how sequels are always disappointing....
It was slated for theatrical release in early 2020, but COVID killed that. It was sold to Amazon and released online March 4, 2021.
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