(SPOILER WARNING!!! This article does contain spoilers, if you haven’t seen the movie, just see the first paragraph to be informed without spoilers!!!)

Ride Along 2 is pretty much like the first movie, weak story and somewhat funny, ironically, Ice Cube was funnier than Kevin Hart!!!

Rating: 2.5 Stars

So here is the case of a bad movie getting a sequel. The first Ride Along movie was commercially a success, but critically bad. Maybe it is the time it comes out, cuz no good movie really comes out in January. So when people try to kill time in watching a movie they’re like, “Ah. This person is in it, so why not?” Evenly so, that is probably why this franchise is commercially successful. A good marketing tool if you ask me. You can sell Kevin Hart, and Ice Cube in certain roles. It is genius, but doesn’t mean it is a good movie. You can only hope that it is funny. Hope.

What I Like: Director Tim Story really made the city of Miami a beautiful place. Miami is one of my favorite cities, so i love seeing the beauty of this city.

The So So: It is somewhat funny. Probably one of my favorite moments is when Officer Ben Barber, played by Kevin Hart, convinced one of the ladies to reveal information, after proving she wasn’t the guy’s main girl by her ringtone. That dialogue encounter was pure genius. Unfortunately, that was the only cool and funny thing in this movie. There were some witty one liners, but it is more misses than hits. Benjamin Bratt played the villain of the movie as Antonio Pope. A stereotypical Latino villain from Miami who is a stereotypical corrupt businessman. He did his best with the script, and what more you can ask for. Surprisingly Ken Jeong playing a hacker, A.J., didn’t overact in his comedy as he usually does in his movies. He was actually tamed, and i appreciated him more cuz of that. He actually blended in well with Hart and Cube, but his one liners were hit and misses too.

What I Didn’t Like: The story was almost exactly like the first movie. Barber trying to prove to Detective James Payton, played by Ice Cube, that he is a good cop even though he is in the police force now. So once again he rides along in Miami to solve a case. The same old story, which was cliched to begin with. For a movie where a guy who plays the tough role is funnier than the comedian, there is a problem with that type of comedy. Hart’s jokes were big misses or just straight up annoying. I have said this before, he is hilarious in stand up, but in movies he is not that funny. Just an annoying short guy who talks a lot. Olivia Munn, playing Maya Cruz, was just there to look beautiful with really subpar acting (which scares me as she will play Psylocke in X-men: Apocalypse).

Overall: If you want to see Ride Along 2, might as well see the first and replace Atlanta with Miami. That is what it is. It is January, so this movie will probably be good commercially again, and maybe a third movie will come out. (Shaking my head.) I’m starting to not look forward to movies in January!!!

Rating: 2.5 Stars

(Sidenote: The End of a Tour- This movie was well acted with both Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Segel. Movie about Rolling Stones writer David Lipsky interviewing author David Foster Wallace. The movie had some intriguing dialogue that was funny sometimes, but that is all there is. Two people just talking. Good for journalists to watch, but for me, I was tuning out during this movie. Best acting from Segel yet. I give him that!!!
Rating: 2.5 Stars)