Happy Friday everyone! A few days ago I got a chance to pre-screen the movie Coming 2 America. I know you guys are anticipating watching this since it’s release today on Amazon Prime. There have been tons of interviews with stars Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall and even newcomer Bella Murphy(Eddie Murphy’s daughter) and more. This morning here in Atlanta, I was driving to get breakfast when I heard local comedian Rodney Perry on the radio talking about his role in the movie.
Veteran Actor Perry said how fun it was to shoot and that it was pretty surreal to be amongst so many great comedians in one room. The movie was filmed right here in Atlanta. Did you guys know that it was mostly filmed at Rapper Rick Ross’ mansion? Yes, I was so excited to learn that information as well. I must say that it’s hard to remake a film and especially this iconic movie from the late 80’s.
We first met Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) a wealthy African Prince and his sidekick Simmi (Arsenio Hall) and we fell in love with them. We all felt so good to see black royalty on the screen and it was a breakthrough film for so many upcoming actors and more. Well, in the sequel Coming 2 America it has been 30 long years and Prince Akeem is a grown ass man now, married with kids lol.
The movie still has it’s charm, it was a star-studded cast (maybe too many cast members) and it was great to see everyone back on screen. What I did not like about the movie was the fact that it had a few dry spots and I felt they didn’t need to over compensate with so many people. It felt like a family reunion with EVERY African American that ever did stand up lol! I’m not trying to dampen the film but it was a bit all over the place. The storyline was a bit hard to follow, some of the jokes fell flat and I even felt it was a lot of over-acting if that makes sense.
You can watch it for yourself but I did think it was ok but I give it a solid C+. On a positive note, one thing that I did LOVE was the wardrobe! Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter was on point with all the African garments worn in the film! She did an amazing job and I knew she could pull it off and especially after being the costume designer for Black Panther! You will be tantalized by all Zamundan styles she and her team put together and that definitely held my interest! Nothing like seeing black people all dressed up! She said “if we were going to Zamunda today, what would you see?”
She wanted to bring Zamunda to the 21st century. She used lots of African fashion designers. She used lots of bold textiles with sashes, evening gowns and some casual looks for everyday. Ruth also enjoyed styling newcomer Folwer Lavelle (plays Prince Akeem’s son). She liked mixing New York street style with also traditional looks from the motherland. Check out some of her amazing work inside and you can stream the movie Coming 2 America now on Amazon Prime Video, hope you enjoy! xoxo
Directed by Craig Brewer
Screenplay by Kenya Barris and Barry W. Blaustein & David Sheffield
Story by Barry W. Blaustein & David Sheffield and Justin Kanew
Based on characters created by Eddie Murphy
Produced by Kevin Misher and Eddie Murphy
Costumes by Ruth E. Carter
Executive Produced by Brian Oliver, Bradley Fischer, Valerii An, Kenya Barris, Charisse Hewitt-Webster, Michele Imperato Stabile and Andy Berman
Starring Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, Shari Headley, with Wesley Snipes and James Earl Jones. Also starring John Amos, Teyana Taylor, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Paul Bates, Nomzamo Mbatha, Bella Murphy
Set in the lush and royal country of Zamunda, newly-crowned King Akeem (Eddie Murphy) and his trusted confidante Semmi(Arsenio Hall) embark on an all-new hilarious adventure that has them traversing the globe from their great African nation to the borough of Queens, New York – where it all began.
Images by Amazon Prime Videos
