“Coming 2 America” (2021) Desperately Needed a Workable Script (Part II of II)

(Continued from Part I)

Astonishingly, in the 30 years it took these people to come up with a story and script, they couldn’t infuse much humor into their work. There is exactly one scene that elicit laughs, where a white, privileged interviewer tries to “get” the black, less-than-privileged upbringing of Lavelle. For the rest of the 110 minutes, the movie is reduced to one line gags and farting lions.

This movie looks visually great, with elaborate costumes and set design, not to mention the amazing collection of talent and lavish guest appearances (e.g. Morgan Freeman), but the makers of this film would have been better off diverting a couple million dollars to severance package for the four story creators/script writers.

What I don’t get is why Eddie Murphy ever signed onto this project. This movie is purportedly a comedy, but it’s so misguided that it spends an excruciating amount of time stuck in scenes of drama that neither Murphy nor Fowler can pull off. Inexplicably, whenever the film attempts humor (and there aren’t that many), none are with Eddie Murphy. Reading the script, Murphy couldn’t have possibly thought, “Oh, I’m funny in this scene.”

I get why Amazon would shell out $125 million for distribution rights to this film. People will sign up to Amazon Prime just to see this movie for the nostalgia value, quality be damned. With all the photos and returning gags from the original, this sequel certainly has no shame in exploiting the fans of the original.

But making a sequel this bad has consequences. The Beverly Hills Cop series has stalled since 1994’s “Beverly Hills Cop III” because even loyal fans can take only so much. If Eddie Murphy doesn’t have the ability to say “I’d rather wait for a workable script,” or worse, is unable to decipher what constitutes one, then the Eddie Murphy fans from the height of his popularity are doomed.

Beverly Hills Cop’s Axel Foley is rumored for a return. If the three decades that Murphy had to get the sequel to “Coming to America” right is any indication, the 20 years that Murphy has had to get Foley right won’t nearly be enough.