The long-awaited sequel to Eddie Murphy’s 1988 “Coming to America,” which wasn’t going to hit the service until sometime Friday, has been released early on Amazon Prime and is now available.
“Coming 2 America” follows Prince Akeem (Murphy), who is set to become the king of the fictional country of Zamunda and finds out he has a son he never knew about – a street-savvy Queens native, Lavelle.
Reviews for the film are mixed with the movie sitting at 52% and a fairly dismal 5.5/10 average rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Here’s a few sample quotes:
“For the most part, “Coming 2 America” falls back on familiar punchlines, serving up nearly word-for-word repeats of amusing bits from the original, but they don’t necessarily play the same in this context.” – Peter DeBruge, Variety
“It doesn’t feel like the filmmakers wrote a new script so much as they just … rewrote the old script” – Bilge Ebiri, Vulture
“Coming 2 America is obviously a work of love, an offering to an audience that has kept its predecessor close to their hearts. It also fumbles for thematic coherence, too swept up in its feel-good delirium to sharpen focus.” – Luke Goodsell, ABC News
“A genial, mostly inoffensive, sometimes quite funny sequel to a beloved comedy from way back in the 1980s” – AO Scott, New York Times
“Silly fun but unnecessary references to other Murphy films for which additional unnecessary sequels are apparently underway. It’s the MCU (Murphy Cinematic Universe)!” – Nell Minow, Movie Mom
“An unfunny, condescending retread that constantly points out that it’s the same damn movie we got 33 years ago.” – Scott Mendelson, Forbes
One thing scoring universal praise is Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter’s work in the film which changes up the Zamunda family’s garments.
