Ride Along 2

For F*** Magazine

RIDE ALONG 2

Director : Tim Story
Cast : Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Olivia Munn, Ken Jeong, Benjamin Bratt, Tika Sumpter, Sherri Shepherd
Genre : Comedy/Action
Run Time : 102 mins
Opens : 25 February 2016
Rating : PG13 (Violence and Brief Coarse Language)

It’s time to hop back in that Dodge Charger R/T with Ice Cube and Kevin Hart, because crime officially has a new enemy: The Brothers-in-Law. It’s a week before the wedding between Ben Barber (Hart) and Angela Payton (Sumpter). When Angela’s brother James (Cube), an Atlanta police detective, travels to Miami to follow up on a lead, Ben convinces James to let him tag along, even though Ben is not up to the task. The duo team up with Miami homicide detective Maya Cruz (Munn) to track down A.J. (Jeong), a hacker who embezzled money from his former employer. Said former employer is Antonio Pope (Bratt), who appears to be a legitimate shipping tycoon and philanthropist but is secretly a treacherous, well-connected crime lord with the port commissioner in his pocket. James and Maya have to bring Antonio to justice while ensuring that Ben and A.J.’s tomfoolery doesn’t pull them down.

            While 2014’s Ride Along was generally dismissed by critics, it was a surprise box office hit and a sequel was to be expected, even if there wasn’t a particularly high demand for it. In addition to stars Cube and Hart, director Tim Story and screenwriters Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi are back for the follow-up. Ride Along 2 comes off as even more of a cut-rate Bad Boys than the first film. The action sequences are nominally more elaborate than before and stunt coordinator/second unit director Jack Gill of the last three Fast and Furious films stages competent if unmemorable pursuits and explosions. A scene in which Ben imagines he’s playing a Grand Theft Auto-style videogame to get through a car chase is a somewhat clever visual gag, if clumsily executed. In addition, Ben has a run-in with a downright embarrassing computer-generated alligator, which looks like it’s a second away from singing and dancing and teaching kids how to spell. The Miami setting means we get lingering shots of bikini-clad women in some attempt at PG-13-level titillation. It very much wants to be a Michael Bay film, but Ride Along 2 doesn’t have the budget for it.

            Hart may be extremely in demand as a comedic actor, but his shtick can be grating and the Ben Barber character is basically Scrappy-Doo, overeager and under-qualified. Hart is energetic and spontaneous but often obnoxious. He and Cube play off each other well enough, but it’s the tired “one’s silly, the other’s stoic” buddy cop routine without a new spin on the formula. Munn is the stock tough gal with little defining personality and since one shrill, diminutive comic apparently wasn’t enough, Jeong is on hand to shriek and squeal. Bratt’s Antonio Pope is as formulaic a villain as they come: the story’s set in Miami, so of course he’s a wealthy drug kingpin. He also possesses considerably less presence than Laurence Fishburne did as the big bad of the first Ride Along.

            If you enjoyed the first Ride Along movie, the sequel is more of the same with a touch more action. Neither Ben nor James have developed very much since the events of the first film and their dynamic remains essentially the same. It’s fitfully amusing but while this certainly isn’t the most unnecessary sequel out there, it still doesn’t justify its existence. It’s predictable, generic, feels like it was made on autopilot and is often quite irritating.

Summary: Delivering action and comedy that is equally uninspired, Ride Along 2 trundles along with a flat tire.

RATING: 2 out of 5 Stars

Jedd Jong 

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2

For F*** Magazine

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2

Director: Kris Pearn, Cody Cameron
Cast:  Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Will Forte, Andy Samberg, Benjamin Bratt, Neil Patrick Harris, Terry Crews, Kristen Schaal
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
Run Time: 95 mins
Opens: 10 October 2013
Rating: G

Cheeseburger in paradise (paradise)
Heaven on earth with an onion slice (paradise)
Not too particular not too precise (paradise)
I’m just a cheeseburger in paradise

So sang the aptly-named Jimmy Buffett, who may have well been crooning about Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. The first film, released in 2009, was inspired by Ron and Judi Barrett’s classic children’s book, changing the premise from food whimsically raining from the sky to the delicious weather phenomenon being a side effect of a maverick scientist’s revolutionary invention.

In the sequel, we return to Swallow Falls, which has become a cheeseburger (among other food items) paradise, populated by a menagerie of “food animals”, all of which have punny names (think flamango, shrimpanzee, hippotatomus and tacodile – supreme!). The human residents of Swallow Falls have been relocated; iconic innovator and television presenter Chester V (Forte) of Live Corp stepping in to clean up. Flint Lockwood (Hader), responsible for the gastronomic precipitation in the first place, is thrilled as he has idolized Chester for years. Together with his pals – meteorologist Sam (Faris), his father Tim (Caan), man-child former bully Brent (Samberg), monkey sidekick Steve (Harris), neighbourhood cop Earl (Crews) and Sam’s cameraman Manny (Bratt), Flint ventures back to his now-transformed hometown. However, Chester V’s hidden intentions might pose some danger to the idealistic inventor, his friends and the food animals.

The best way to describe Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is “cynicism-proof”. It’s one of those films that, even to the jaded movie critic likes of us, is irresistibly charming and smile-inducing. The first film was lovably goofy, an earnest, highly visual comedy that didn’t seem like the result of a series of audience surveys, pie (heh) charts and test screening statistics the way some animated films turn out. Sure, it was heavy on the gags and certainly geared towards a younger audience, but there was plenty of stuff for grown-ups and older kids to enjoy, including a heartwarming father-son story and the spoofing of disaster movie conventions.



This entry takes on the form of an adventure flick, taking place mostly on an edible Mysterious Island, if you will. There are a few neat little homages to Jurassic Park, including a spoof of the patented Spielbergian “looking in awe shot”, the ripples in the glass of water, and Sam’s Ellie Sattler-esque attire on the island. The designs for the food animals and food people (these apparently are more sentient and sapient) are imaginative and amusing, not to mention mostly very adorable. You’ll most likely have problems eating strawberries for a while yet thanks to anthropomorphic strawberry Barry (voiced by co-director Cody Cameron). And you’ll definitely not be roasting marshmallows any time soon, either. Most food-related films make one hungry; this makes one feel warm and fuzzy instead.

The voice cast, including Saturday Night Live alums Bill Hader, Andy Samberg and Will Forte, are audibly having a (meat)ball, delivering high-energy performances to match the lively, colourful animation. Veteran actor James Caan reprises the role of Flint’s old-fashioned, well-intentioned dad with a laconic warmth and gets a cute moment in which he sings the line “teaching pickles to fish, that’s my crazy world”. Of the returning characters, the only absent cast member is Mr. T, who is replaced by Terry Crews. Crews tries his best, but never quite matches his predecessor’s iconic voice.



The film does fall into formula on several occasions. For example, this certainly isn’t the first time we’ve seen the childhood hero of our protagonist become something of a fallen idol. In spite of this, Chester V, something of a cross between Steve Jobs and Deepak Chopra, does have an interesting look to him. The character also has incredibly expressive arms that bring to mind Terry Jones’ character in the “Find the Fish” segment of Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (“I wonder where the fish did go?”). This being a kids’ film, plot points are often spelled out in block letters are there are chunks of exposition here and there, but things do keep moving enough to prevent this from becoming an issue.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is a sequel that doesn’t dutifully dole out more of the same in a rote fashion, but takes the characters on an engaging adventure in a vibrant world populated with endearing critters. Furthermore, the watermelophants, wildabeets and the “just a tomato” are a whole bunch more likeable than the Smurfs and the Naughties from Sony Pictures Animation’s earlier effort this year.

SUMMARY: A delightful second helping that doesn’t feel second rate.

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

Jedd Jong