This is not because it's hard to write the word "meh," but because I felt like I wanted some more insightful thoughts on why I thought the film was "meh."
Plus I have struggled with why I thought it was "meh," which gets into the everpresent self-scruitnization of a modern critic into why he may not like a film that strays from his own perspective. (I say "he" because it's the male critics who have to do this the most -- female critics are well practiced in considering films that stray from their perspective.)
In my review for Coming 2 America, I likened it to another long-delayed sequel from last year -- actually two long-delayed sequels, but I only went into detail about the one I felt more strongly about. Those were Bill & Ted Face the Music and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, both of which I gave four stars out of five.
Coming 2 America? I gave it 2.5 stars.
I can go into why if you like, but the review already does that. You can find it here.
The comparison to those movies is germane, especially Bill & Ted. The last movie in the Bill & Ted series came in 1991, while Coming 2 America's predecessor was in 1988, so they are both more similar to each other than they are to Borat. So we can leave off talking about Borat.
Now, the difference in my feelings towards the two films may have to do with a difference in my expectations. I was expecting not to like Bill & Ted Face the Music, so when I liked it, it was a pleasant surprise. I was expecting to like Coming 2 America, so not liking it all that much was a steady downhill slope to disappointment.
And sure, I think I can reasonably argue that Bill & Ted has a better script, a better resuscitation of the characters' core traits by the actors, and an overall more imaginative way to explore the logic of the world it has provided us. It may not even require arguing; it may just be self-evident.
But I started to doubt myself after the movie ended, following a speech from my wife that was close to a harangue.
She liked Coming 2 America a little better than I did, I think, though not considerably. However, she was definitely attuned to the possible complications of a negative review from a racial standpoint -- a negative review she knew I was about to write. (Or mixed, at the very least.)
Her points were well-considered. No matter how successful it may ultimately have been, Coming 2 America was a triumph in a similar way to the original was a triumph, which I discussed in my piece about the original a week ago. Namely, it gathered together a cast of almost exclusively Black actors, who gave us an entertainment that crossed over in a way that was no small feat in 1988. Even 33 years later, you could argue this is still no small feat -- and that a movie that does so with the celebratory atmosphere of a number of songs and dances, and successful shout-outs to its predecessor, is worth cutting a little slack, maybe even worth celebrating.
"And think about that before you write your review," she seemed to say with her eyes, or sort of actually said with her words. "Think about the power you wield from your soap box."
I did think about it. I thought a lot about it.
In fact, one night I lost sleep over it. It was Tuesday night, I think. I had a stress dream that combined worries I have about my job, where I deal with financial issues and where senior members of my team are leaving at the end of the month, with worries I obviously had about this review. I dreamed I was trying to handle Prince Akeem's finances and was in woefully over my head.
I did ultimately write the review, which I've linked to you above, and it does not call this movie a turd. In fact, I don't think it's a turd, so it's appropriate that my review doesn't convey that.
I do think it's worth only 2.5 stars out of 5, which translates to a 5 in my site's rating scale. But I gave it a 6.
If you're trying to be woke in 2021, you have to consider how much of your own baggage you are bringing to the perspective you publish to the world. And I couldn't help ask myself:
"Do I like Bill & Ted Face the Music better than Coming 2 America because the characters are white and I can relate to them better?"
Even if you don't believe something like this is true -- and I don't -- I do think it's worth asking yourself the question. Or, asking yourself if other people will ask that question, which is the big Worry with a capital W.
You can think yourself in circles on this topic if you're not careful. On the one hand, you know you should not engage in the criticism version of affirmative action, boosting the rating of a film because you are concerned about how a negative appraisal of that film makes you look, or because you think it needs "help." On the other, you need to consider the way the differences in your perspective and the perspective of the film may play themselves out in your perception of it.
Is that worth a single point on a ten-point rating scale?
It may be.
On the other hand again, Coming 2 America is not exactly outsider art. Its director and two of its three writers are white, and it comes from a corporate place. Also, Eddie Murphy himself is one of cinema history's most white-tested Black stars.
I'm not sure if I would have thought about this issue so much if not for my wife's impromptu post-movie speech. But I think speeches like that are worth listening to, their wisdom worth heeding. And if it means saying I like a movie that is genuinely funny in some parts, and enjoyably fan servicey in most parts, a little more than I actually do, I suppose that's a small sacrifice to make.
I posted the review on Wednesday, and have slept well enough since then.
