Ride Along 2 review: Ice Cube and Kevin Hart return for a sequel to their surprise 2014 smash hit.
Ride Along 2 review
Kevin Hart may be funny, but he also has a schtick. Like many comedic actors he recycles a formula that makes his characters indistinguishable from one another. Get Hard, The Wedding Ringer, and the upcoming Central Intelligence, all show Hart doing the exact same thing over and over again. Meanwhile there’s Ice Cube who may very well be playing his character from the superior 21 Jump Street movies; the way he says ‘supplier’ here has the exact same intonation and inflection. Now add Ken Jeong doing the exact same thing he does in every film, and you have a film that isn’t even trying.
In typical sequel fashion, here we find ourselves joining the actors as opposed to the characters, as they travel to an exciting location, drive cool cars, and wear clothes that they probably got to keep after shooting wrapped. That may be a cynical way of looking at things, but the effort put in by the cast suggests they were aggrieved at having to filming interrupt their vacation. Even Olivia Munn looks painfully bored and isn’t memorable in the slightest. Granted, she isn’t given any funny lines and is basically the female version of Ice Cube’s James Payton, but her delivery of every line is from the glazed over stare of cue card reading academy.
Ride Along 2 review
The barebones plot has Payton and Ben Barber (Hart) travel to Miami to search for a computer hacker (Jeong) who encrypted a suspect’s USB device. They quickly discover that the hacker, AJ, is involved in crimes of a big nature run by Antonio Pope (Benjamin Bratt) who may the police and politics in his pocket. From there we are subjected to retreads of the first film, unfunny jokes, and action scenes that aren’t thrilling in the slightest.
Bratt is a bit of a shining light in the darkness and comes out with a lot of gusto and actually seems to be having fun. His efforts just serve as a reminder of how everyone else is coasting through on autopilot. There are also a couple of funny jokes, that only serve to suggest that if effort had been put in we may have been dealing with something of a higher calibre. One inventive, well delivered scene, sees Hart interrogate a lead by using the psychological power of ringtones. It’s clever, observant, and doesn’t outstay its welcome. It’s also a mere blip on the radar.
Ride Along 2 review
Ride Along 2 is just another cash grab looking for a quick buck. It fails to develop chemistry naturally between the leads, Hart’s character is far too stupid to be convincing as even an officer on his probationary period, and not even all the plot points make sense. When the duo’s car explodes you’re left wondering how the villain knew that was their car and why it didn’t just explode instantly. It just happens because…why not? Lazy and familiar, this is one film you may ride along with, but keep your seatbelt unbuckled so you can throw yourself out at the first opportunity.
Ride Along 2 review by Luke Ryan Baldock, January 2016.
Ride Along 2 is playing in UK cinemas from 22nd January.
