It may be because I’m a sucker for any movie that strives to recapture the joy of the glorious action comedies of the 1980s, but I enjoyed the original Ride Along, which is quite possibly the most financially successful film ever ($130 million at the US box office) to not receive a theatrical release here.
Perhaps due to Kevin Hart’s rising profile and the success of Ice Cube’s Straight Outta Compton, Ride Along 2 is not suffering such a fate. Unfortunately, however, it wholly fails to recapture the minor charms of the original.
Hart’s manic on-screen energy has never bothered me the way the seems to grate on some audiences – heck, I even liked Get Hard. Ride Along 2 simply gives him nothing to do.
Hart’s chemistry with Ice Cube’s perma-scowl still exists, but there is so little happening in the plot here that the film feels like its slowly deflating as it progresses towards its underwhelming finalé.
As the third most prominent character, Ken Jeong pretty much copies and pastes his performance from the Hangover movies. The rest of the overqualified supporting cast (Olivia Munn, the great Bruce McGill) are similarly squandered.
I smiled a couple of times during this movie, and my goodwill for Cube and Hart carried me through, but I don’t think Ride Along 2 inspired a single actual laugh. Nevertheless, I am eagerly anticipating Central Intelligence. Don’t judge me.
