A lukewarm return to Zamunda.

It’s impossible to overstate just how big of a wave Eddie Murphy was riding by the tail end of the 80s. With hits like Beverly Hills Cop and Trading Places on his hands and coming off the mega-success off his legendary Raw stand-up set, the man was on the roll of all rolls as Coming to America hit cinemas, finally cementing Murphy as a comedic force to be reckoned with.

Yet to switch over into the kind of family-friendly fodder that would mark much of his 90s output, Eddie Murphy had hit one hell of a career sweet spot by 1988, a purple patch that would see his close-to-the-bone humour and knack for character comedy connect with audiences across a wide spectrum, and one that Coming to America encapsulated perfectly. This was Eddie Murphy’s moment, and the world knew it, and even as his career would hit the skids over the coming decades, few comedians can lay claim to such a career peak.

Coming to America was a real lightening-in-a-bottle moment for Murphy, one that hit the kind of high notes he has only rarely reached since. So, thirty-plus years and a whole host of hits and misses later, can the film’s sequel recapture the magic that once saw Eddie Murphy king of the comedy world?

Three decades on from his fateful trip to America, newly-crowned King Akeem (Eddie Murphy), together with his loyal confidant Semmi (Arsenio Hall) must once again travel to New York in search of Lavelle (Jermaine Fowler), the monarch’s long-lost son, hoping to bring him back to Zamunda and secure the line of succession. But with his son as rebellious and independent as him in his youth, and having spent his entire life in the States, it’s clear Akeem has his work cut out convincing Lavelle that his future lies on the Zamundian throne.

All this feels strangely familiar, doesn’t it? Comedy sequels are rarely a good idea in the first place – something Eddie Murphy himself knows all too well – but sequels to classic comedies years (or decades even) after the fact, are often a recipe for disaster.

It didn’t work for the likes of Zoolander, Dumb and Dumber, or even Anchorman, so let’s just say the news that Coming to America was getting a sequel over three decades later brought with it an impending sense of déjà vu. There was always hope that this one would come good – perhaps born more of nostalgia than anything else – but the odds weren’t great.

It’s unfortunate then, if not entirely unexpected, that Coming 2 America embodies many of the worst traits of these delayed sequels. While it never tips over into the kind of all-out dumpster fire both Zoolander 2 and Dumb and Dumber To turned into, it’s just as bland and unimaginative as most comedy sequels.

Much was made of the film’s decision to aim for a PG-13/12 rating, and while that isn’t necessarily a bad thing in itself, this toning down appears baffling in hindsight, especially when considering just how tame Coming 2 America appears up against its bawdy predecessor. Indeed, much of the previous film’s charm stems from its unashamed brashness, so it’s more than a little puzzling to see them attempt to turn such an R-rated early-Eddie classic into the kind of watered-down, family-friendly fare of his latter career.

The result is a toned-down rehash of the original film, disappointingly devoid of Coming to America’s personality and, quite frankly, laughs. Hampered by a script happy to go over old ground while offering little of anything new, director Craig Brewer makes a gallant attempt at injecting energy into proceedings, yet comes up short where it matters. And considering just how much of an R-rated knockout Dolemite Is My Name was (Brewer’s last collaboration with Eddie Murphy), the disappointment here is palpable.

To this end, Brewer delivers a fun, nostalgia-stuffed ride, as we’re reacquainted with a who’s who of the original cast and all the Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall cameos you could possibly want or need. However, while it would be churlish to say there isn’t joy to be had in catching up with these fantastic characters after all these years, a trip down memory lane just isn’t enough to sustain the entire film.

Arriving stocked with talented new faces, Coming 2 America just doesn’t know what to do with its fresh cast members, sorely underserving the talents of Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, and Kiki Layne. Of these newbies, Jermain Fowler gets the biggest chance to shine, and while he makes for a charming lead, his impression on proceedings is nowhere near the one left by Eddie Murphy in the first film.

Oddly, despite how retrograde the film is, there seems an odd resistance to return to what worked so well thirty years ago, namely the charisma and chemistry of Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall. With much of the film’s setting switched from New York to Zamunda, the fish-out-of-water schtick is likewise shifted from Akeem to Lavelle, however, as the original stars are shuffled to the side-lines, their comedic impact on the story is somewhat neutered.

While its certainly fun to see more of Zamunda and its inhabitants, especially when Wesley Snipes’ General Izzi struts onto the screen, you can’t help but feel that more could’ve been made of it. The location switch-up holds so much potential with the fictional African country ripe for comedic exploration, yet the results fail to deliver, as the style and energy of 80s New York proves impossible to replicate.

Bogged down by a lacklustre plot, Coming 2 America falls into the same old comedy sequel trap of joke recycling, clearly more preoccupied with playing to the audience’s nostalgia than any genuine attempt to tickle us with anything new. Stuffed with plenty of comic talent, the film lays down a solid comedic foundation to build upon, however, the writing struggles to click, offering a far gentler humour than the Coming to America brand deserves.

And this is the crux of Coming 2 America’s issue. The comedy is just ok. Not bad, not as offensively awful as the Zoolander and Dumb and Dumber sequels of this world, just alright. And alright, while certainly a perfectly agreeable way to spend a couple of hours, doesn’t really stack up to the first film’s high standards.

Riding high on a wave of nostalgia, Coming 2 America does well to remind us of the characters and moments that won its predecessor so many hearts and laughs, yet it faulters where so many comedy sequels do by neglecting to offer much more than a jaunt down memory lane. With both Eddie Murphy and the film itself in far more subdued form than thirty years ago, Coming 2 America certainly has its moments, however, the lacklustre script and unimaginative execution struggle to get its soul glowing.

Coming 2 America is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video now.