In Atlanta, fresh-from-the-Academy rookie cop Ben (Kevin Hart) is about to marry his fiancée Angela (Tikka Sumpter), however he is unhappy that he doesn’t have the blessing of her older brother, hard-nosed policeman James (Ice Cube). He is constantly trying to impress his future brother-in-law, but when he wrecks a drug bust that James has organized, he is further than ever from his good graces.
James is sent to Miami to chase up a lead in the drugs case. Ben manages to get himself to attached to the Miami trip, hoping he can help on the case and lift his stocks with James. In Miami they work with Detective Maya Cruz (Olivia Munn) whom Ben immediately gets off side. The trio want to bring drug boss Antonio Pope (Benjamin Bratt) to justice. They believe the way in is to find and put pressure on Pope’s hacker A.J. (Ken Jeong).
The first RIDE ALONG was released two years ago and made a massive wad of cash for Universal Pictures and Ice Cube’s production company. Work on the RIDE ALONG sequel was begun before the first movie was released. Now that’s confidence. These movies are dismissed by critics and loved by audiences. RIDE ALONG 2 more or less completes everything that was set up in the first picture. If you enjoyed that film, you will enjoy this one. Unlike more ambitious comedy sequels (ANCHORMAN 2, ZOOLANDER 2) this one knows its audience and what it wants.
Hart is one of America’s most successful stand-ups. Cube is Cube. Their comic pairing is more or less bulletproof. Hart is the motor-mouthed little guy who wants to impress. Cube repackages the hard-as-nails cop character he portrayed in the Jump Street flicks. They have perfected their double act and they deliver the laughs once again, this time in a different city and with an assist from entertaining new co-stars in Munn and Jeong. Tim Story, director of the original RIDE ALONG (as well as the Alba/Evans FANTASTIC FOUR movies), returns for this sequel.
RIDE ALONG 2 is in wide release in Australia and runs at 1 hour and 41 minutes. (5/10)
