Snipes struts his way through scenes that have him mocking, baiting, and barking at Murphy and Hall, all the while backed by an army as likely to shoot someone at any given moment as they are to break out in dance. Coming 2 America casts him as General Izzi, ruler of the hilariously named neighboring land called Nexdoria. It does have Wesley Snipes, however, in a role that can't help but remind us all how much we've missed him. You might be wise to turn Coming 2 America off at this 30-minute point - right around the time Prince Akeem and his loyal companion Semmi (Arsenio Hall) meet up with the Americans who have raised this lovechild named Lavelle Junson (Jermaine Fowler from Superior Donuts) - because this is where the plot kicks in and things go downhill. It felt as edgy as his classic standup films Delirious and Raw, but with an accessible humor that made it easy to be entertained (and educated by) a cast that didn't look like any other on screens at the time. It was not only Eddie Murphy, a once-in-a-generation star on display, but the fact that he had become so big that he was able to say anything he wanted, make jokes about any color, creed or denomination, and do so in a film that would become one of the most successful all-Black cast movies ever made. That's what Coming to America felt like in 1988. But now they dress like the Best Buy Geek Squad and they want to kill people." There are some dirty words, some adult humor, and some edge - like when we're reunited with the old men in the Queens barbershop and one says: "Nazis are back. The jokes are not only funny, but they have bite. This is when Coming 2 America feels the most like Coming to America.
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