Ride Along 2 - movie review

Ride Along 2

Plot: As his wedding day approaches, Ben heads to Miami with his soon-to-be brother-in-law James to bring down a drug dealer who's supplying the dealers of Atlanta with product.
Cast: Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Tika Sumpter
Director: Tim Story
Rating: 12A
Release Date: Friday 22nd January 2016

When the first Ride Along was released in 2014, I quite enjoyed it. It didn't really break the mould of buddy cop comedies but I certainly had fun with it. The film also made a decent amount of money at the box office meaning that an obligatory sequel was for sure. So now, in the year of 2016, we have Ride Along 2. And it has to be said, I like it just as much as the first installment. It hasn't revolutionised my view on the franchise but I'd be lying if I said that I didn't find a good dose of enjoyment in this movie. It was nice to see some of the original cast back and the new additions didn't hinder the movie but nor did they leave the biggest of impressions. 



As far as the talent in this movie, it was clear that they upped the ante with the addition of Benjamin Bratt as the film's main antagonist as well as the hilarious Ken Jeong and the stunning Olivia Munn. None of these characters screamed that they would be iconic in years to come but they did their purpose and the actors seemed to enjoy their time. However, what easily steals the show and is the best part of not just this movie but also the franchise, is the chemistry between Kevin Hart and Ice Cube. These two are comedic gold. Their love-hate relationship is fantastic to watch and makes for some moments of pure hilarity. Kevin Hart is one of the best comedic actors working today and also extremely consistent with the amount of movies he's making. I did a bit of research and found that he has another cop comedy coming out in a couple of months, this time with Dwayne Johnson. Does this dude stop? But in this movie, Hart does what is asked of him. He's likeable and funny but I did find that his schtick was a tad repetitive after a while. My hope is that he doesn't get typecast as these happy-go-lucky characters who feel they have something to prove. He need not go down the route of Adam Sandler or Melissa McCarthy. But Ice Cube impressed me the most. His charisma has increased since the last film and I do feel like he channelled Captain Dickson from the Jump Street film. His transitions from a badass cop to being driven crazy by Hart's constant wisecracks made for brilliant viewing.

The story doesn't really do the rest of the film justice. In fact, I'll say that, at times, I was bored. The runtime could have been cut down by about 10 or 15 minutes and it would have flowed much more smoothly. Sometimes the film suffered from moments where the same things seemed to happen but in a different location whether it being losing a potential lead or the same form of argument between Hart and Cube. Another problem that the film struggled with was the flow. I often found the writing to be quite clunky especially when transitioning from scene to scene. It didn't progress in the way I had hoped and often felt as if the director had moved from set piece to set piece without any purpose. It simply left the film feeling very formulaic and lacking any surprises. Speaking of surprises, the film attempts to reveal twists that were either so obvious to begin with or seemed implausible to even consider. The film also lacked hardly any originality. I can guarantee that the main underlying themes and some story moments (especially trying to impress the disapproving family member before a wedding) have all been used before. However, all this can be understood because this film isn't trying to do anything new. All it aims for is to entertain and for the most part, I was. The film has it's fair share of funny moments especially during a party in which Kevin Hart pretends to be a high ranking official to enter. The persona he creates and the way he treated others, in particular Ice Cube, had me laughing constantly.

The action scenes were something that had me split. I thought that some were brilliantly choreographed and contained some real moments of tension and excitement. A stand out action sequence involves a car chase in which Kevin Hart recalls his video game expertise to evade the bad guys. Explosions and enjoyment ensued. However, the latter action scenes were just uninspired and lacked any thrill. I never felt concerned for the safety of the characters and the concluding sequence had almost every cliché in the book. It was almost as it the stunt coordinator changed halfway through filming. The score of the movie was nothing of remembrance either. It was just another blend of heavy rap and bass tracks played as Ice Cube and Kevin Hart patrolled the street of Miami in slow motion.

To sum up Ride Along 2, my best advice would be that if you liked the first Ride Along then the likelihood is that you would enjoy this. I had fun and that was all I wanted. Sure the story was severely lacking at points and it may not have been a great entry into the buddy cop genre but I wasn't asking for that and I knew that it wouldn't be. Don't go into this film expecting a masterpiece. Set your expectations at average and you may not be disappointed. Will there be a Ride Along 3? Probably, but I'm not sure where the story could go. It seems like they have run out of ideas to progress it any further.

My Verdict: 6/10

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