The Sunday Mail
MAYBE it is the cynic in me that finds fault in almost everything.
Perhaps it is all this Oscar fever that now sees me holding all actors of colour to a higher standard.
Whatever the reason, the fact remains that there is something about Kevin Hart and Ice Cube’s latest collaboration “Ride Along 2” that does not augur well with me.
Do not get me wrong, I still hold the guys in high regard and as one of Hart’s millions of followers on Twitter, Instagram, Tinder and Facebook; I will continue to watch each one of the silly clips that he posts on the platforms. Without hesitation, I will even purchase his next comedy special.
I will continue to binge watch every senseless season of his reality show “The Real Husbands of Hollywood.”
As for Ice Cube, as a lover of old school rap, I will always be his fan.
However, as far as their collaborative efforts on the big screen go, I think that their time to move on has come.
Hopefully “Ride Along 2” is the last!
The film is a sequel to the 2014 box office hit which teamed up Hart with Ice Cube in arguably the biggest buddy cop movie of that year.
Hart starred as Ben, a loud mouth security guard whose dream of becoming a cop comes to fruition when his soon-to-be brother-in-law James Payton (Cube), takes him on patrol in his police car.
In typical buddy cop fashion, the two polar opposites bonded over their love of the woman in their lives, Angela (Tika Sumpter), as they traded quips and bards in between car chases, dodging bullets and nabbing the bad guy.
Despite getting lukewarm reviews, the film did well on the box office opening at US$100 million. But that was then, and this is now 2016.
It boggles the mind why Universal Pictures, in all their infinite wisdom, would produce a carbon copy of the 2014 movie and expect to get the same results.
“Ride Along 2” takes place months after the first and sees the two (Hart and Cube) travel to Miami to cut off the head of the serpent that is responsible for smuggling and peddling drugs in Atlanta and Miami.
The key to their operation is AJ (Ken Jeong), a hacker who makes the mistake of stealing from Antonio Pope (Benjamin Bratt). With a billion dollar operation and their careers on the line, both camps wreak havoc around the streets of Miami in their attempt to track down the hacker.
My biggest problem with the film is not specific to this movie alone. Instead, it extends to almost every other sequel ever made.
These include hits such as “Die Hard”, “Rocky”, “Matrix”, “Blade” and cult favourites like “The Hunger Games” and “The Hangover”.
Rehashing a successful plot does not always translate to gold.
In this particular sequel, I am not sure if Ice Cube and Kevin Hart, who are the film’s biggest selling points, are just victims of typecasting or are simply famous people that are not that good at acting.
I believe the latter would make a lot of sense, specifically from the production house’s point of view, as Universal Pictures would be in it strictly for the money and exploiting the two’s star power.
If so, shame on them!
For how long are we going to see Cube portray the hard-nosed no-nonsense grouch teamed-up with a funny man?
He did it in the “Friday” trilogies (1995-2002), “XXX-State of the Nation” (2005), “All About The Benjamins” (2002), “First Sunday” (2008) and to some extent the “Barbershop” movies (2002-2016), “Are We There Yet” (2005), “Are We Done Yet” (2007), “21 Jump Street” (2012), “22 Jump Street” (2014) and most recently the “Ride Along” movies.
In most cases, the formula worked and received good reviews or sold well at the box office. Unfortunately, this formula portray him as a famous rapper-cum one-dimensional actor. I say shame on you Ice Cube.
If someone like Jim Carrey can come out of his comfort zone and do something like “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, then what stops Cube from doing some drama or something with a lot more depth?
Hart might be one of the funniest people in the business but his film repertoire is starting to weigh a bit thin these days. His specials are still something of repute, what with new material every now and then, and there is also that something special every time he comes out to do a special.
His films, on the other hand, are strictly one-dimensional as he portrays one character in every film and television appearance he makes. “Ride Along 2” suffers from the same one-dimensional characterisation and performances that have defined these two actors’ careers.
Very few performances stand out in this movie. The talents of Tyrese Gibson and Bratt are totally wasted and the gags and humour in the film sometimes appear a bit forced and ill-timed.
However, this is not to say this film is all bad. The flashes of brilliance are there but they are few and far between.
Scenes that stood out in the film are when Jeong demonstrates a unique chemistry with Hart, something that is harder than it seems given his reputation as a motor mouth, but somehow he managed to do it.
One particular scene that is a highlight of the movie is when Jeong and Hart compare Star Wars trivia, something that brings back shades of Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels car scene in “Dumb and Dumber”.
If you have not seen “Dumber and Dumber”, I implore you to do so.
Jeong is quick, witty and demonstrates unique comic timing in his overall performance.
Credit should also go to Olivia Munn and Ice Cube’s job in expressing emotions through body language and facial expressions.
Tim Story does yet another great job in the director’s chair as the fight and car chase scenes are top notch. The film also gives off the overall feel of your typical buddy cop movie.
