Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
To channel my inner Arnold Schwarzenegger: “I’m back!”
After an extensive festive holiday back in the UK, the primary purpose of which was to take my dad to see Star Wars as my step-mum refused to accompany him (something about ‘well, you never went to see Titanic with me in 1999, so the answer is no!’), I’m here to offer my musings on the latest cinematic offerings.
After such a brilliant ending to 2015 with Star Wars (yes, I firmly stand by that, disgruntled reader who got the knives out in last week’s letters page when he thought I wasn’t looking!) and The Revenant (a 5* review finally being something my film reviewing stand-in colleague Mai and I can agree on in the office), I was a hoping the momentum could carry on through the New Year.
Well, a bit like coming back to work after a nice relaxing break, I should have known I was in for disappointment! [* Comment noted by the Editor]
Ride Along is an appropriate name for this film, as that’s exactly what you should do if you happen to be driving past any of Bahrain’s cinemas this week and are considering dropping in to watch something.
This ‘comedy’ sequel sees Kevin Hart and Ice Cube return as soon-to-be-brothers-in-law Ben Barber and James Payton, a fresh-out-of-the-academy police officer and detective respectively, who aim to take down Miami drug lord Antonio Pope (Benjamin Bratt) before Ben’s big wedding day.
James sees this as an opportunity to get rid of a long-standing nemesis once and for all, while for Ben, it’s a chance to prove himself on the force and enjoy the bachelor party of his dreams. And, sure enough, director Tim Story lets him (and us, unfortunately) do that by crowding the frame with bikini-clad bodies, staging a foot chase through the back alleys of Little Havana and having Hart belch fire and tear up the dance floor at a major hotspot. With only the occasional sprinkling of genuine plot advancement.
If you saw the first Ride Along, you probably know what you’re getting with the sequel: broad, mindless comedy that goes for shock value and gross-out gags over subtlety.
Fans of the two stars will likely find a few laughs in the movie, but others (like me) will just find the whole thing a disagreeable mess.
Hart does have obvious energy and enthusiasm, but he’s suffering from Adam Sandler syndrome. Well, actually, he isn’t, because Kevin Hart was actually funny at one time, but you get the gist.
His recent string of comedies is starting to feel mass-produced at this point, and it’s getting difficult to differentiate one from another. If the jokes were genuinely funny or fresh, then it’d be easier, but they’re all a bit of a damp squib. Once again, he comes up short.
Ice Cube, meanwhile, does his usual routine of grumbling and wearing a fierce scowl as he tries to focus on the task at hand while his youthful and exuberant protégé looks for the finer things in life.
To be fair, the two have genuine chemistry as a good cop/bad cop duo and probably think they’re having the time of their lives off-screen, but the situations and script never allow this to come to fruition to the audience’s eyes. Everything has been done – and done better before – in scores of buddy cop films.
The supporting characters don’t fare any better either. Female characters flit in and out of the story as eye-candy or lifeless temptation for our male leads, while main baddie Pope is as stereotypical as they come and instantly forgettable.
A more apt title for this feature should have been Ride Along and Along and Along … and Along Some More as it really does drag across its 101-minutes. There’s some truly terrible pacing, with too many set pieces overstuffed with nonsense, and seemingly big events set up only to be anticlimactic to build up to yet another showdown.
Ultimately, fans of the two leads might find a few laughs to be had, but even the most die-hard devotees would be scraping the barrel to defend this film. It lacks heart, rib-tickling laughs, emotion and goes on way too long. Save your money.
Showing at Cineco, Seef II, Saar, Al Jazira, Novo Cinemas, Dana Cineplex
