When Eddie Murphy initiated the production of “Discovering America” (1988), he was at the pinnacle of his early career. Only 27, and behind him four seasons of “Saturday Night Live,” three excellent and successful comedies (“48 Hours,” “Mishneh Mishna Mazal,” and “The Cop of Beverly Hills”), and a successful sequel (“The Cop of Beverly Hills 2”) . In “Discovering America” he controlled the production, casting, and determination of the director’s identity (John Landis with whom he worked on “Mishne Mishma Mishne Mazal”). Although “Discovering America” has been a great economic success, and there are certainly many who remember it with great fondness, it can also be seen as a harbinger of the misses in Murphy’s later career.
Discover America 2 – Trailer
In his extraordinary position Murphy knew he was the boss and he wanted them not to forget it. His relationship with Landis became murky and confrontational. Murphy thought he was forced to do good and Landis described in later interviews that Murphy had behaved arrogantly towards team members and players. Akim Joffer, the African prince of the Zamonda kingdom, was a masterpiece of kind-hearted nobility, but Murphy seemed to be in a very different place when he played him.
Another aspect that hints at an out-of-control ego is Murphy’s decision to play three more sub-characters (an old African-American barber named Clarence, an old Jewish customer at a barber shop named Sol, and a singer-forger-flirt named Randy Watson). This demonstration of abilities, entertaining as it is, will become a hallmark of quite a few of his subsequent films. A narcissistic stick in which the star demands more and more space for himself, at the expense of the coherence of the fictional world, the plot sequence and the space required for the sub-characters.
A leap forward to 2021 and Murphy, in a 60-month-old month, is in the process of restoring his comedic persona. In late 2019 he appeared in one of his most successful comedies, certainly since the heights of his youth. “My Name Is Dolmite” (Captives by Craig Brewer) combined acting and comedic qualities and won him and the film a variety of awards for African-American cinema. Unsurprisingly, Braver is also the one in charge of “Coming 2 America” which aired last weekend on Amazon Prime.
This is not the first film in which stars and characters from Generation X films return to the fame of past films but this time they do so in the position of the fathers. Anyone who has seen films like “Jay and the Silent Bob Strike Again 2” (2019) and “Bill and Ted in the Rhythm of Music” (2020), can make a very intelligent (and accurate) guess about how the dance of veteran audience satisfaction will be performed, while matching the stated values Cater to the contemporary audience.
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From “Discovering America 2”
Remember, in the original film Prince Akim arrived in an African fantasy kingdom of infinite wealth, patriarchal control and endless indulgences. Some of these indulgences included flickers of female nudity and a reference to the sexual satisfaction that is part of the prince’s daily routine. Of course all of these flew out in the current cultural climate, and the R rating of the original became PG-13.
The purpose of Akim’s original journey was to find a replacement for the matchmaking of an obedient noblewoman from the kingdom of “Nexdoria” (i.e. “the house next door”), and instead to find true love in the borough of Queens. In the spirit of the 80s, the original film played a double play of consumer ostentation and a pose of modesty. It was a comedy “Buddy Moby” with a romantic emphasis in which the protagonist falls in love with a simple but intelligent and opinionated young woman. A plot that produces an imaginary balance between the male and the female despite the differences in education and wealth between them (again, very typical of the romantic comedies of the late 80s).
It is not necessary to mention the whole plot of the first film, but it is important to make clear that the memory of this plot was taken for granted in “Discovering America 2.” Conventionally in sequel films spanning decades, the plot was designed on the basis of constant correspondence with the original. Not only are the main players returning, but also sub-players who have survived the past 33 years. There is a constant repetition of sentences and gestures that without the memory of the previous film are almost worthless. Because these jokes, even if they are predictable and usually mediocre, are the more effective comedic parts of the film, there is no choice but to know the original.
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From “Discovering America 2”
At the beginning of the film Akim is still a prince, but soon, with the expected death of his father King Jaffa Joffer (James Earl Jones), he will become king. The problem is that he and his wife Lisa (the rest of the bucket) have three daughters, meaning the new king has no one to succeed him. Of course the three girls are beautiful, smart and have afro-ninja fighting skills. We will not settle for less. Prominent among them is the eldest daughter, Princess Mika (Kiki Lane), who by her nature and abilities is the natural heiress. The need to find an heir becomes urgent because General Izzy (Wesley Snipes), ruler of “Nextdoria”, threatens to take over Zmonda by force if his son does not marry Akim’s eldest daughter. We know the prince’s firm belief in true love and therefore there is no way he will agree to it.
From the idol doctor Baba (Arsinho Hall – in one of his four roles in the film) Akim learns about the existence of a son created during his previous visit to the United States, while he was in a state of obscurity initiated by a lustful and uninhibited woman (Leslie Jones). ) Is a guy with qualities who have yet to find an opportunity to break in. Bringing him to Zamonda with his mother will put him on a path where he will have to choose between what will gradually be revealed as “true love” and his status as heir to the throne.
“Discovering America 2” is subject to a constant “dialogue” with the original, and at the same time it is different from it and therefore also less funny. The lost son Lavell goes through a process that makes him a character on an equal footing with Akim. There is also a very vital subplot in the current cultural climate, the purpose of which is not to deprive Princess Mika of her future. All of these make Akim’s character less present than fans of the first film would have liked, and this is doubly true of the character of his friend Sami (Hall) and the friendships between them that were the basis for the comedy in the first film.
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From “Discovering America 2”
The problem is not only that Murphy and Hall get less screen time, but that the other plots are not so funny, and move in an expected trajectory towards the “right” solution. “Discovering America 2” tries to compensate for the lesser degree of humor in some ostentatious scenes of singing and dancing with guest appearances by well-known African-American performers. It is likable as “entertainment” in its overall and superficial sense, but is likely to disappoint those who laughed quite a bit in the original film.