'Coming To America' Honest Trailer: What If One Of Those Nigerian Prince Scams Was Real?
This week brings the comedy sequel Coming 2 America to Amazon Prime. It's been over 20 years since the original Coming to America hit theaters, when Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall were at the top of their game. Do they still have what it takes to bring the laughs, or will they follow in the footsteps of long-gestating comedy sequels like Dumb & Dumber To and Bad Santa 2?
We'll find out in a couple days whether Coming 2 America has the goods, but in the meantime, the Coming to America Honest Trailer gives credit where credit is due while also reminding us that Eddie Murphy still fell far from the glory of the 1980s, especially when it comes to playing multiple roles in the same movie.
Coming to America Honest Trailer
Coming to America is one of the best comedies to come out of the 1980s, and it has miraculously stood the test of time, which we can't say about all of Eddie Murphy's movies from that decade. But when you break it down, if it wasn't for the romance at the center of it, many scenes play out like a series of Saturday Night Live sketches. Whether it's the performance of Sexual Chocolate or the fast-talking, high-tempered barbershop, these wouldn't be out of place on an episode of SNL.
However, the most interesting detail pointed out by the Coming to America Honest Trailer comes from the callback to a crossover with one of Eddie Murphy's other comedies. Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy are seen as Mortimer and Randolph Duke from Trading Places, now poor and out on their asses thanks to Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) and Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd). Akeem gives them a bag full of cash, and they're back in business. But wait, doesn't that mean there's a prince from Zamunda and homeless man turned wealthy stock trader both in New York who look exactly alike? When do we get to see the sequel where those two meet?