REVIEW: “Ride Along 2” duo disappoints

By Abbey Fisk,
Bluedevilhub.com Staff–

“Ride Along 2” just about reaches the low bar set by its predecessor with more lazy humor that rarely gets the audience to laugh out loud.

In this disappointing sequel, practical James Payton (Ice Cube) decides to take Ben Barber (Kevin Hart)–still the same wisecracking, childlike character in the first “Ride Along”–and his soon to be brother-in-law on a job down to Miami to show Ben that he is not cut out for detective work. While questioning a hacker who encrypted an flash drive for a drug dealer in Atlanta, James and Ben stumble upon an even bigger case.

With help from local detective Maya Cruz (Olivia Munn), whose strict attitude mirrors James’, and hacker A.J. (Ken Jeong), who has key information to cracking the case, the not-so-dynamic duo learns that respected businessman Antonio Pope (Benjamin Bratt) is behind the drug ring.

In this over-the-top action comedy, the jokes were almost embarrassing. It’s unpleasant to watch Ben never pick up on the many harsh hints James is dropping.

Not all movies are lifelike, but this movie’s writing makes the characters seem idiotic. On top of that, the special effects look cheap, and the plot is predictable.

I enjoy Hart’s comedy, but his character in this movie is unpleasant. He is loud and obnoxious, and it’s really just sad how bad he is at being a cop.

For the “Ride Along movies,” two is not always better than one. A sequel to a mediocre film is unnecessary when it is going to use the same plot and not expand on the humor.