Un prince à New York 2 (Coming 2 America)

It was necessary to wait more than thirty-two years to finally discover the sequel to the romantic comedy A Prince in New York (Coming to America) (1988). In the first part, An Extremely Spoiled African Prince, Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) left the country of Zamunda in Africa for Queens, New York, and infiltrated by changing his lifestyle to find a wife he could respect for his intelligence and strong will, and not a woman he was asked to marry. Thanks to the popularity of Eddie Murphy who had just had three great commercial and critical successes (48Hrs (1982), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), this film had been, in spite of shared criticisms, a huge success with a budget of 28 million dollars and a worldwide box office estimated at 288 million dollars, 128 million of which were in the United States alone.

Despite public demand for a sequel, it was not officially released until January 2017. It was then necessary to wait until 2019 for an announcement confirming that part of the cast of the original film would return to their roles to the delight of the audience, whether in the lead role the return to the foreground of Eddie Murphy but also Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, John Amos, Garcelle Beauvais, Louie Anderson, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Shari Headley. This casting gives this film a nostalgic touch that works perfectly. Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Morgan Freeman, Tracy Morgan and Wesley Snipes are also part of the cast. But here we are, while in the 80s and 90s Eddie Murphy had a string of successes, his last years his international career was in decline to the point of cancelling a hypothetical new chapter in the saga The Beverly Hills Cop or even a derivative series. A Prince in New York 2 (Coming 2 America) was therefore a risky bet for Paramount, especially since most theaters remain closed in the United States as well as in France. So we can understand why this movie will be streamed directly on Amazon Prime Video on March 5th.

However, we must admit that this second part is rather a good surprise as it cleverly exploits the audience's attraction for the first part with several short excerpts of it. In the same way, the screenplay by David Sheffield, Barry W. Blaustein, Kenya Barris avoids the trap of a certain repetition by placing most of the action in the imaginary country of Zamunda in Africa and by focusing on the training of Prince Akeem's young son while he, his mother and his uncle are invited to be guests at his palace. It is also worth noting that in this film, Eddie Murphy once again plays several characters, including Randy Watson, a soul singer from the fictional group Sexual Chocolate, as well as Mr. Clarence, the local barber, and Saul, the Jewish barber's client.

However, we would have liked the film to go a little off the marked trails of the first part to show more craziness and allow us to rediscover all the genius of one of the best American comedians. Of course we will continue to prefer him in his role of Axel Foley in The Beverly Hills Cop even if the third one was a complete failure in our eyes.

A Prince in New York 2 (Coming 2 America) thus avoids to be a new failed luxury comedy thanks to its really invested casting, its numerous musical numbers and a real will to entertain without falling into excesses. The direction of Craig Brewer who finds here after Dolemite is My name (2019) Eddie Murphy is a wise choice and this second part easily exceeds the first part while remaining a perfect vehicle for Eddie Murphy who avoids here any childish nonsense. Having also directed Hustle & Flow (2005), Black Snake Moan (2007) and Footloose (2007), Craig Brewer has shown a real talent for filming musical numbers including Salt-N-Pepa and Gladys Knight.

Coming 2 America
Directed by Craig Brewer
Produced by Kevin Misher, Brian Oliver
Screenplay by David Sheffield, Barry W. Blaustein, Kenya Barris
Story by Eddie Murphy
Based on Characters by Eddie Murphy, David Sheffield, Barry W. Blaustein
Starring Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, KiKi Layne, Leslie Jones, Shari Headley, John Amos, Tracy Morgan, Wesley Snipes, James Earl Jones
Music by Jermaine Stegall
Cinematography: Joe Williams
Edited by Billy Fox
Production company : Eddie Murphy Productions, New Republic Pictures, Misher Films
Distributed by Amazon Studios (United States), Paramount Pictures (International)
Release date: March 5, 2021 (World)
Running time: 104 minutes

Seen on March 03, 2021

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