It's been thirty years since the initial film, and Akeem (Eddie Murphy) finds himself needing to return to America with Semmi (Arsenio Hall). Many of the original cast members are back, along with some new faces like Jermaine Fowler, Tracy Morgan, Nomzamo Mbatha, and KiKi Layne. “Coming 2 America” (2021) isn't as strong as the first movie—which happens to be my personal favorite comedy—but it’s still enjoyable seeing what the characters have been up to after more than three decades, and how they look now. There are four issues that keep this film from being truly great: It feels rushed at times, has random music video segments thrown in, and is noticeably sillier than the original. The movie seems hesitant to linger on any dramatic or touching scenes. When it does, like with Lavelle (Jermaine) and Mirembe (Nomzamo), I started to connect with those characters, but then the film would abruptly shift to another wild sequence. Also, Akeem isn’t as appealing or humorous in this installment; whether that's due to Eddie Murphy seeming less energetic, weak writing, or simply Akeem being held back by tradition, it's hard to say—likely a mix of all three. Another problem is the trip to New York City feels fleeting and doesn’t really make it feel like “Coming to America 2.” The story mainly takes place in Zamunda, which isn’t necessarily bad, but I think it needed more inventive ideas and better writing overall. Finally, while I thought Jermaine Fowler was good as Lavelle Junson—he has a certain charm—he doesn't measure up to Murphy as Akeem in the first film. The filmmakers could have developed Jermaine’s character further. Even with these flaws, “Coming 2 America” is still worth watching if you liked the original. It’s nice to see those familiar characters again and there are some funny and entertaining parts; for example, the scene early on involving Bopoto (Teyana Taylor) had me laughing out loud. The film has a running time of 1 hour, 48 minutes, and was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia, and New York City. GRADE: B-/C+

Source on TMDB