*This review contains spoilers*

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Eddie Murphy made a return as Prince Akeem 33 years later in “Coming 2 America” (2021), an out of the blue sequel to the 1988 classic “Coming to America.” The most famous Zamundans are back to give us a predictable story with an abundance of cameos to compensate.

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The very simple plot for the new sequel, available on Amazon Prime, is completely laid out within the first 20 minutes of the movie. King Jaffe Joffer (James Earl Jones) dies making Prince Akeem (Murphy) the new king of Zamunda. King Akeem is worried about who will take the throne when he passes because he and his wife Lisa (Shari Headley) had three daughters and no sons, and in Zamundan tradition, a woman can’t rule.

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Luckily, Semmi (Arsenio Hall), Akeem’s long-time sidekick, reminds him of the crazy night they had in Queens when they first came to America in which Akeem discovered he has an illegitimate son in the United States. He and Semmi return to New York City to find his son and prepare him to become heir to the Zamunda throne. King Akeem finally came to the realization that his eldest daughter, who has been preparing for the throne her whole life, should rule as queen.

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I enjoyed the few modern developments in “Coming 2 America,” like eradicating the idea that men should be the only ones who should run a country. Akeem’s strong, smart daughters were initially overlooked just because they’re women. In the beginning, Akeem would have rather stuck to tradition and had an inexperienced New Yorker run his entire country than his sophisticated eldest daughter. The ending was heartfelt and progressive but expected.

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Murphy was the heart and soul of the original 1988 movie. The doe-eyed, hopeless romantic Akeem is no longer sincere or naive. The first film worked extremely well as a comedy and Murphy’s character kept the film funny and grounded. The sequel feels like a hodgepodge of cameos, unfinished storylines and random musical numbers that never seem to end.

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Jermaine Fowler, who plays the newfound son of Akeem, Lavelle, takes up screen time that wishfully should’ve been Murphy’s. He hasn’t been seen in a blockbuster film since “Shrek Forever After” in 2010, and his return was anticipated by many.

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It’s mentioned in the film through casual conversation that all America has is sequels to movies that nobody asked for.

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Lavelle asks, “If something is good, why ruin it?” 

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Well, it seems like director Craig Brewer already knew what reviews “Coming 2 America” was going to receive.

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Ever since “The Godfather Part II” won Best Picture in 1974, American film studios have been popping out sequels left and right. “Zoolander 2,” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2,” “Dumb and Dumber To” and “Top Gun: Maverick” are only a few examples of blockbuster movies that released an unanticipated sequel years later. This doesn’t even include the endless list of remakes that are released every year.

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So, why does the film industry thrive on sequels and remakes and no longer originality?

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The number of these “late sequels” increases every year, hinting that movie studios have either been in a drought of original ideas or they continue to see sequels as good investments.

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According to the professional social networking service Linkedin, even though sequels usually make less money than the originals, they still make a lot more money than an average movie not connected to a franchise. A sequel will only get made if the original film was a huge success. The chances of making a smash original hit are small, and chances are good that a sequel based on a classic blockbuster will do better in the box office.

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In the film industry, sequels are just a safer bet. Americans seem to keep throwing their money at sequels possibly because of nostalgia or curiosity.

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It seems like a lot of modern filmmakers care more about making money than taking the chance to produce their own original hit.