By Michael Hernandez
Entertainment Reporter &
Texas Metro News Columnist
Entertainment Reporter &
Texas Metro News Columnist
It’s been 30 years in the making but finally one of the most eagerly anticipated sequels in movie history
is available on Prime Video (free to its subscribers), COMING 2 AMERICA. The movie is set in present day
Zamunda and we catch up with Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy), his queen (Shari Headley) and his family
of three daughters who are well-versed in the culture of their native land. At the start of the movie King
Jaffe Joffer is on his deathbed and reveals a long held secret to his son; he has a son and an heir to the
throne of Zamunda living in the United States.
is available on Prime Video (free to its subscribers), COMING 2 AMERICA. The movie is set in present day
Zamunda and we catch up with Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy), his queen (Shari Headley) and his family
of three daughters who are well-versed in the culture of their native land. At the start of the movie King
Jaffe Joffer is on his deathbed and reveals a long held secret to his son; he has a son and an heir to the
throne of Zamunda living in the United States.
After the king holds a big final celebration for himself, which features some big name talent (I won’t ruin
the surprise), he dies and Akeem and Semmi, with Arsenio Hall back in his role as the prince’s best
friend, head to Queens to find his son and the rightful heir to the crown of Zamunda. Once in Queens
they are reunited with all of the old crew from the original 1988 film. With the help of the men at the
barber shop Akeem ventures out to find his son. He finds him outside of Madison Square Garden
scalping tickets to the New York Knicks game, and tells him that he is his father. The young Prince
Lavelle, played by Jermaine Fowler, is skeptical and brings him home where he finds his mother Mary
(Leslie Jones) and his Uncle Reem, played by Tracy Morgan.
After Semmi spills a briefcase, filled with thousands of dollars and gold, Lavelle and his mother Mary
decide to accept Akeem’s invitation to move to Zamunda and experience the life of royalty. Back in
Zamunda, Akeem has problems that he has to deal with. General Izzi, portrayed by Wesley Snipes, is still
angry because his sister, who still jumps on one foot, wasn’t chosen by Akeem to be his wife. Izzi, who
discovers Akeem has a “bastard son,” devises a plan to match up his daughter, the incredibly sexy
Bopoto, played by Teyanna Taylor, with the young prince, to create an alliance with his neighboring
country and Zamunda.
Of course Murphy and Hall reprise the characters they played in the original movie and in the sequel the
story also involves a strong supporting cast who are more involved in the storyline, rather than relying
so heavily on Akeem and Semmi to move along the story.The story has a younger feel to it with the help
of all of the younger generation in the film, which was a wise move because the story has so much more
energy than if it was just about a bunch of 50-yearold characters. In my opinion, COMING 2 AMERICA is
a better movie than the original. It’s the excellent big cast of new actors that gives it that something
extra. It may be because the film was so eagerly anticipated but I loved it. COMING 2 AMERICA is
hilarious and in no way disappoints.
The film is rated PG with a run time of 1 hour and 50 minutes. On my “Hollywood Popcorn Scale” I rate
this movie a JUMBO! You can only see it on Prime Video.
