Saturday Sequel presents Coming 2 America
By Paul Anthony
As we continue our Journey through this franchise, it is now time to take a look at this long awaited sequel which the title doesn’t make any sense because for the most part they aren’t in America. Right off the bat after seeing this title before I knew the plot or even watched the film I had ask myself is this an omen to come regarding this film. I have stated I am not a fan sequels that have been delayed forever or not needed. It may seem like I am bashing this film before I even review it but trust me I am not but the problem is that this film was just too late. This film takes place thirty year after the first one. Now I am sure if this was 1993 or something we would all be curious of what the princess and prince was up to but not thirty years later. Now prime claims this was the number 1 film in America nd though its hard to say if that was true or not. We know the budget was 60 million and Amazon bought the rights 125 million so in so many ways I guess that means the film made money. The film brings back nearly all of the cast from the first film and adds Tracey Morgan and the ever annoying Leslie Jones and also adds Wesley Snipes as well, but let’s check out the plot shall we?
Akeem and Lisa now have been married for thirty years and have three daughters who seemed to be more of a badass than their own father who has seemed to be grown into a soft hearted person. Akeem gets summon to see his dying father who breaks the news to him that he has son and that’s important because only a son can take throne. Akeem must explain this to Lisa because this takes places days before they truly meet, though she accepts, his daughter does not because she has been training to be queen all her entire life. Nevertheless Akeem travels to New York to meet his son Lavelle whos is a smart mouth but nothing more and his mother is played by Leslie Jones. We get the back story and basically this was a quickie gone wrong. They return to Zamunda where Lavelle and his mom learns the ways of the royal family but once again Lavelle must be in arranged marriage which he doesn’t like because he is falling for the woman who baths him basically. Lavelle over hears his father making a deal though he just showed up at the wrong part of the conversation . Lavelle leaves with his mother and returns back to New York. Though Akeem finds him and gives him his blessing and they return home and there Akeem changes the laws and makes his eldest daughter heir to the throne.
So this film was a let down on a few fronts. 1 the plot seemed to be basically the plot from the first film. Which meant the jokes fell flat because they were all the same. Not too mention it had Leslie Jones in it and we had less of James Earl Jones. I guess the omen of title basically Jinxed it. Honestly it seemed to ride the back of the first film and that was about it. Now Overall this movie gets a A for effort but for a review I am giving it a D for a grade, let ‘s hope there won’t be a third one in my life time.
Coming to America Review
By Paul Anthony
I guess we can call this Eddie Murphy weekend here at SmashWriting and I say that because today I am reviewing his film and on Saturday I am reviewing the sequel to this film as well which is titled Coming 2 America, creative huh? In the 1980’s Murphy was as hot as anyone with having a good stand up career and being in hit after hit, basically for the new age people he was Kevin Hart of the 80’s. The movie stars Eddie Murphy but the cast was actually stacked with talent, you had of course Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, Shari Headley and John Amos. The film also had Louie Anderson and a younger Samuel L Jackson. Though this film didn’t need Anderson, it should be noted that the studio which is Paramount requested that there needed to be a white person in this film, and truly no there was no need for that. The film was released in the summer of 1988, the film had a budget of just 36 million and managed to make 350 million, now this is the part where I say sequel would happen but we know that is truly the case. I have to admit its been awhile since I watched the film so I needed to watch it over again. Well let’s waste no time and check out the plot.
The plot is simple Eddie Murphy plays the prince of an African country who must get married to a princess which his father has already arranged but this is not what the prince wants and during announcement he decides that he wants to find his own bride though he does not exactly say that. He basically tells his father he wants to go to America to basically have sex. So him and his servant travel to New York to begin the process though they agree that no one should know their true identity. Instead they act like they goat keepers. After failed attempts to meet the queen to be at clubs the two attend a fundraiser where the prince finds the perfect woman for him and her name is Lisa however he must fight for her love because she is already and though he managed to win her heart, he must reveal the truth to her and tell her he is a prince. At this point his father has come to America to find him and bring back home and is shocked to find out what he has been up. Once the prince tells Lisa the truth she runs away and basically he becomes sad and returns home with his family to marry his arranged bride though he is shocked to see that it is Lisa and everything ends well.
Okay now this film is suppose to be a comedy and to be honest I did catch myself laughing at few jokes. “The royal penis is clean” was funny line as well as the good morning neighbors, I never been a fan of Murphy being different characters though they had their moments. With it being a comedy I didn’t expect much of anything else regarding the plot. In the end honestly it was a hit but I am giving it a B but still enjoyed watching it!!
Saturday Sequel Presents DR. Dolittle 2
By Paul Anthony
I have seen plenty of films, since I was born and some films and one film that I haven’t watched and forgot about was DR. Dolittle 2. Now I haven’t seen the latest Dolittle film which I am guessing is a true reboot because it stars Robert Downey Jr. The franchise once had another big name star and his name is Eddie Murphy. In this era Murphy had to become the most famous Actor and everything he was in was gold though that would start to change the next year with Pluto Nash. The film franchise overall has been up and down with fans. The very first film was a bomb in the 60’s though it became a cult classic and the 2020 reboot was a failure. But the Murphy led films were hits. Part 1 came out in 1998 and grossed nearly 295 million on a 70 million dollar budget and you knew what that meant, a sequel was coming and three years later we got a second film. This film didn’t need a bigger budget, which is something you don’t see often like the first film this budget as well was only 70 million. The gross numbers weren’t the same however but it was still a hit because it grossed 176 million which was down nearly 120 million but never the less it made money. This would be the last Murphy film as the following 3 sequels were direct to DVD and focused on his youngest daughter who inherit the family trait, something we saw her trying to do in this film.
The plot starts a few years after the events of the first film and now Dolittle is more famous than ever because his ability to talk to animals. Just when Dolittle thinks his life can’t anymore busier, raccoon shows up telling him a godfather beaver wants his help to save the forest, which will be torn down and the animals are asking for his help. Of course he agrees but learns the only way to save the forest is to have two endangered animals breed there. That’s when he comes across Archie whos is a circus bear but also the last male pacific western bear and he recruits the bear to help him which Archie must breed with AVA the last female pacific western bear. This is no easy task because he realizes Archie is use to the good life and not a bear life. At the same time Dolittle begins to realize since he has become famous he hasn’t focused on his family and everyone is drifting apart but his family comes back together when he needs their help and even learns his oldest daughter can talk to animals as well and even Archie learns the bear life just in the nick of time because the log company owner begins the process of tearing the forest down but the animals band together and attack him every way they can. In the end the forest is saved and Dolittles return home and Archie and AVA breed and have two cubs and the movie ends on a high note.
I really did enjoy this film, to me everything was on par with the first film, the only drop I saw was the comedy wasn’t there as much as the first film. That could be because the plot required less comedy giving the subject but it was still a good family comedy. The drop in the gross could honestly come from other films because this film went up against the fast and the furious as well as other summer hit of that year and there was a lot of them. In all I am giving this film a high B for a review and say its good film to watch with the family.
The Reboot and Sequels that got Our Attention
By Paul Anthony
Last Month we saw some big Movie News regarding two franchises and one that is becoming a franchise. Here is why these three films caught our attention, Final Destination is getting rebooted, GhostBusters 3 and Coming to America 2.
Let’s Dive into the reboot of Final destination, This was announced just a few weeks ago in which they officially announced that they would reboot rather then do a sequel. Warners Bros have been playing with this idea since part 5 came out in 2011. The Writing was on the wall for there to be a sixth film. The fifth film Made a decent profit. It grossed 157 million off of a 40 million dollar budget though only 42 million came from the States. Nonetheless the film made money. The numbers for the series have been up and down but each film made money. With the fifth being the highest reviewed film in the series at 62 percent. The series seems to be going strong but yet that was back in 2011 and rebooting a film can be tricking, by the time this film happens it could be ten years, can they recreate the magic or will this just be a waste of time. There is no doubt that this series does have a cult following because the idea was so new but now it is not. If they want to make it work then the film has to be done right and we know that is easier said then done.
In the 80’s and 90’s Eddie Murphy was all over the place, his movies were hits and his stand ups were on fire. Murphy was gold but nowadays he will do anything to keep his name out there. Back in 1988 Murphy starred in the hit comedy film Coming to America. Now new Broke that after thirty years they decided to make a part 2. Certain films shine because stories are a one off thing meaning its better to be one and done and times have changed. Audiences have changed and Murphy isn’t the same. Sure the entire cast is returning but that doesn’t always mean the charm and magic will. Sadly I believe this film won’t recapture the magic like the first film did.
Now the biggest news is the announcement of GhostBusters 3 and no this film won’t be the sequel to the 2016 film, no this is sequel to the first two. This film will have the original cast returning in more then a cameo of a different character, they will be returning as the characters we came to love. This film will act as a passing of the torch film, theam will also feature two boys and two girls learning from the old team. This is what I believe hurt the 2016 film, The women did nothing wriong and was great but it felt like a reboot that we never wanted and with that it underpreformmed and never will get a sequel, The old and new team will hit the theaters in 2020!
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