It Is Time to Take a Second Ride Along

Ride Along 2: “PG-13“ (1 h. 41 min.)

Starring: Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Tika Sumpter, Benjamin Bratt, Ken Jeong

Directed by: Tim Story

Back in 2014 we met Ben Barber (Hart) a high school security guard and wanna-be cop, and James Payton (Ice Cube), a tough-as-nails Atlanta detective, who was less-that-pleased that this motor-mouth man-child, screw-up, and videogame addict wants to marry his baby sister Angela (Sumpter). So, to “teach him a lesson” James takes Ben on a ride along, and (as can be expected) all sorts of hilarity ensues. Well, it is two years later and Ben has just graduated from the police Academy and is now a rookie cop who is (once again) attempting to make his bones and prove himself to his soon-to-be Brother-in-Law.

So, now on his initial case, not only does Ben (once again) royally (and hilariously) screw the pooch, but he and James get sent to Miami to track down a lead on drug dealer. Once Ben and James venture off to Miami they come across a mysterious and dashing local public figure named Serge Pope (Bratt). While there, they run across and wind up teaming up with Maya (Olivia Munn), a smart and beautiful Miami detective. As Ben looks forward to proving himself and hopes the case runs smoothly so that he can return to in time for his wedding, all he manages to do is continue to amp up the laughs and cause all sorts of side-splitting incidents as the unlikely pair deliver a comedic version of the Will Smith/Martin Lawrence Bad Boys films while spectacularly blowing up much of Miami.

Well, if you are in the mood for a laugh-out-loud, totally funny, buddy cop flick, then you really need to check this one out as it is not only just as funny as the first film, it (as stated) successfully skewers the Bad Boy films, making it even funnier. Hart is at the top of his game, hitting with hit comedy after hit comedy playing off his rapid motor mouth and laughable antics, meanwhile pairing him up with the very gansta Ice Cube is absolutely ideal as you can feel Cube’s stoic pain of having to deal with such an animated court jester. At one point in the film, the always watchable Jeong — who plays, A.J., a very talented hacker who isn’t so much a hardened bad guy, as someone who is simply always looking out for his own interests — tells James that he ran from the duo because (not knowing they were cops) he was afraid of them. James is incredulous that A.J. would be afraid of them. To which A.J. responds, “Look at you, you’d run from you!”).

So, if you are looking for a good time, check out Ride Along 2, you’ll be glad you did.