Ride Along 2

16 Replies

Don’t worry, guys, Kevin Hart is now a legitimate cop (he was just a security guard wannabe the first time around) but he’s still fucking things up hilariously for his “partner” and soon-to-be brother-in-law, Ice Cube. Detective Cube is just as reticent as ever and has no patience for a lowly ride-along-60beat cop, but fate (or convenient scripting) intervenes to make sure they’re back in the same care for yet another ride – this time all the time to Miami.

There’s nothing overtly wrong with this movie, it’s just an attempt to squeeze more money out of the same damn stone. Buddy-cop formula? Regurgitation to the max. And you know what regurgitation is right? It’s like when the mama bird eats a worm but instead of swallowing all the way, she saves it in her throat to later barf up into her baby’s mouth. That’s what this movie is to us. They sloughed off the basic idea of the first, chewed it up a bit, and vomited the mushy mess onto the big screen.

This doesn’t sound like much of an endorsement, does it? But I have to give this movie the props it deserves: it stars two black dudes (“blentlemen”) in the title roles and STILL has a cast full of people of colour. It’s an exercise in diversity that looks and feels effortless and yet is rarely achieved in Hollywood these days.

I like Cube and I like Hart but if there was anything fresh to add to this genre, they used it all up the first time around. Cube seems to play a cop in 80% of his films, which I suppose is a little karmic retribution for his NWA hit, Fuck Tha Police. Life is funny like that. Kevin Hart’s an interesting dude, though. He’s an ace stand-up comic and is a great choice for adding some manic, amped-up energy to any scenario, but he hasn’t found his break out role yet. Come to think of it, I know some people that are gambling it’ll be later this week with Central Intelligence, another entry into arguably the very same genre, this time alongside The Rock. Any bets? Will Kevin Hart finally get his due?

16 thoughts on “Ride Along 2”

  3. allendemir

    Yeah, I love his stand up, but I haven’t seen any Kevin Hart movies I’m interested in seeing. And more movies should be described as “regurgitation.”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓
    1. Jay Post author

      While in theatres last week, we saw a preview for a stand-up special that’s apparently getting a big release – he sold out a football stadium!

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply ↓
  4. Sarah Ferguson and Choppy

    I don’t know if it will be his break, but I for one am planning to see Central Intelligence this weekend. Then again, I have a special place in my heart for The Rock, so this plan has far more to do with that than anything else.

    Like

    Reply ↓
  5. Liz A.

    Now, if I was a screenwriter, this would get me thinking. What would be a good way to use Kevin Hart that had the same diversity, but wasn’t another boring cop/buddy movie? Of course, the someone that should be doing that thinking is Hart’s agent…

    Like

    Reply ↓
  6. fragglerocking

    I am liking very much that your mama birds eats words, maybe the scriptwriter should have done the same.
    By the way I am awaiting the release here of The Secret Life of Pets, I have fallen about at all the trailers, and Kevin Hart is the star, so maybe being a criminal rabbit will do better for him than being a cop 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓
  7. J.

    Reckon Hart is on to peanuts doing another film like this. There’s just no mileage in these types of flicks … after 20 minutes or so I tend to think “here we go again”.

    Like

    Reply ↓
  9. Wendell

    Regurgitation is right. This is the same damn movie as the first, just with Ken Jeong in the Joe Pesci Lethal Weapon 3 role. No, Hart’s breakout role will not be Central Intelligence. It just looks like more of the same, just swapping out a scowling and stocky Ice Cube for a jovial and mountainous Dwayne Johnson. From the trailers I’ve seen, Hart’s playing a similar role to the one he plays in this series.

    Like

    Reply ↓
    1. Jay Post author

      I know as well as anyone that there are many movies to see and always too little time. Hopefully we help to cull the pack.

      Like

      Reply ↓

Leave a comment