Preceding "Black Panther" and Wakanda coming to the big screen by three decades and adopting the rom-com genre instead of that of the modern superhero burger, "Coming to America" and Zamunda is a delightful African-American fairy tale. Sure, much of the comedy is quite immature. Eddie Murphy, along with Arsenio Hall, seem to find the production to be largely an excuse to play multiple, heavily made-up parts as if participating in a series of SNL skits. And there's a prominent gag referencing Murphy's prior role in "Trading Places" (1983). Yet, the Ruritanian romance, but in Sub-Saharan Africa instead of the usual Hollywood fictional Europe, is such a wonderful piece of African-American fantasy that any minor deficiencies in the picture otherwise are easy to overlook.
It's like an old-fashioned royal fairy tale. A prince and pauper, or reverse Cinderella, the prince pretending to be a commoner so to find a princess. The love triangle involving the other, unsuitable suitor. The fish-out-of-water culture clash. The framing of an African, or outsider, of long ancestral roots, perspective on America, specifically New York, along with such American staples as the not-McDonalds burger chain (and other, burger "king"). Even the natural-vs-artificial hairstyle gags work well. It's a highlight of Murphy's career, and I eagerly await the sequel (even if they do replace those charming, if obvious, matte paintings of the castle with CGI), with expectations having only been raised by Murphy's prior comeback entry of the hilariously reflexive "Dolemite Is My Name" (2019). The supporting cast here is good, too, including Hall, James Earl Jones who is perfect as the king, Madge Sinclair as queen, that pretty "ER" doctor (Eriq La Salle) as the rival knight, and even Samuel L. Jackson popping in to shoot a shotgun and cuss the place up. This '80s classic holds up well.
It's like an old-fashioned royal fairy tale. A prince and pauper, or reverse Cinderella, the prince pretending to be a commoner so to find a princess. The love triangle involving the other, unsuitable suitor. The fish-out-of-water culture clash. The framing of an African, or outsider, of long ancestral roots, perspective on America, specifically New York, along with such American staples as the not-McDonalds burger chain (and other, burger "king"). Even the natural-vs-artificial hairstyle gags work well. It's a highlight of Murphy's career, and I eagerly await the sequel (even if they do replace those charming, if obvious, matte paintings of the castle with CGI), with expectations having only been raised by Murphy's prior comeback entry of the hilariously reflexive "Dolemite Is My Name" (2019). The supporting cast here is good, too, including Hall, James Earl Jones who is perfect as the king, Madge Sinclair as queen, that pretty "ER" doctor (Eriq La Salle) as the rival knight, and even Samuel L. Jackson popping in to shoot a shotgun and cuss the place up. This '80s classic holds up well.