Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is unwatchable, and I was so excited for this movie I had the date circled on my calendar. I would not have circled the date if I’d known Kenya Barris was involved. He couldn’t be more one-note. I have no idea what people are talking about with this movie being “woke,” but the white racist boss character is in everything Kenya Barris created, because he has one idea and intends to beat it to death. There was an amazing female cast in the original movie, and lively characters for them to embody. This round, Prince Hakeem manages to discover that he has an illegitimate son, and doesn’t feel inspired to have a conversation with his wife about it before hopping a plane. The reaction would have been fantastic and hilarious, and instead we’re left with Lisa staring endlessly into the void, not a word about...anything. Literally, not one word. He has three daughters, but there is zero conversation about any of them being ruling queen instead of a king, and it’s presented as an impossible idea, despite Akeem being king and able to change this. They just basically show up, recreate the sand snakes scene from Game of Thrones, and then disappear. No doubt at least one of them will surface later for some sort of entry level you-go-girl fight scene that was boring and tired five years ago. Same for the emotional complexity of becoming king. No thought, no feeling, no heart, just acceleration to NYC where they can recreate every scene from the first movie. I just read that Eddie Murphy passed on a different script that saw Michael B. Jordan as the next heir, going to America to get a wife of his own. He passed on that one, because it didn’t offer him enough screen time, and, let’s face it, he was likely intimidated by what a star Michael B. Jordan is. It could have been a sweet father-son movie, or a sweet father-daughter movie. Instead, it’s unfunny crap. I feel robbed.