Page 31 - ATD 16Jan2016

PEOPLE & ARTS A31
Review: ‘Ride Along 2’ follows silliness formula of original
SANDY COHEN
AP Entertainment Writer
With the same brand of sil-
liness and a bit more cre-
ativity than the original,
“Ride Along 2”doesn’t
pretend to be anything
more than what it is: a se-
quel designed to offer a
second helping of exactly
what worked the first time
around. The original “Ride
Along” topped the box of-
fice for three straight weeks
when it opened in January
of 2014, collecting $150 mil-
lion returns on its modest
$25 million budget. It fo-
cused on Ben (Kevin Hart),
an excitable video-game
junkie and wannabe cop,
and his attempts to impress
his disinterested future
brother-in-law, James (Ice
Cube), a hard-nosed po-
lice detective. Hart is goofy
and slapstick; Cube is stern
and annoyed.
Producers reprise the for-
mula and return to many
of the original film’s artists tions for Hart to be a goof-
for the sequel, including
screenwriters Phil Hay and
Matt Manfredi and director
Tim Story.
This time around, Ben is
a fresh graduate of the
Review: ‘13 Hours’ is thrilling, but too video game-like
In this photo provided by Paramount Pictures shows John Krasinski as Jack Silva in the film, “13
Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” from Paramount Pictures and 3 Arts Entertainment/Bay
Films. The movie releases in U.S. theaters Jan. 15, 2016.
LINDSEY BAHR
AP Film Writer
The most surprising thing
about “13 Hours: The Secret
Soldiers of Benghazi” is how
Michael Bay makes 144
police academy a week
away from his wedding
to Angela (Tika Sumpter).
He’s still trying to impress
her brother, James, who still
can’t stand him.
At Angela’s urging, James
reluctantly agrees to bring
Ben on a police mission
from Atlanta to Miami,
where James is on the hunt
for a suspicious hacker, AJ
(Ken Jeong). AJ is linked to
a case James is working in
Atlanta, but he’s also con-
nected to a major Miami
drug lord, Antonio Pope
(Benjamin Bratt), who has
been masquerading as a
philanthropist. This prompts
a local homicide detec-
tive, Maya (Olivia Munn),
to join the investigation.
The plot is too complicated
to explain (there’s govern-
ment corruption and ship-
ping fraud involved), but
it doesn’t even really mat-
ter. It’s just about setting up
ever more elaborate situa-
ball to Cube’s straight man.
The actors deliver, just like
in the last movie and oth-
ers where they play similar
roles. Cube is predictably
tough and snarly, making
minutes pass so quickly.
His excitable camera is al-
ways doing something,
whether shaking with
hand-held authenticity to
capture moments in battle
Saturday 16 January 2016
This photo provided by Universal Pictures shows, Kevin Hart, from left, as Ben Barber, Ken Jeong as
A.J. and Ice Cube as James Payton in a scene from the film, “Ride Along 2.”
(Quantrell D. Colbert/Universal Pictures via AP)
Hart seem even more smi- plete without car chases
ley and animated by con- and explosions, and the
trast. He eats up the cam- fancy rides and fireworks
era in every scene. in “Ride Along 2” reflect
Everything else is a side the film’s larger budget.
dish, though Jeong amus- There’s ample eye candy
es as a sex-crazed hacker in the form of bikini-wearing
nebbish and Sherri Shep- women, glamorous Miami
herd is over the top as an settings and sleek sports
obsessive wedding plan- cars, including a breath-
ner. Munn gets in on the ac- taking baby-blue Jaguar.
tion scenes and performs a The most playful sequence
sultry dance with Bratt, but involves that car and spe-
Sumpter is given little to do. cial effects that transform a
Since this is a buddy-cop real street chase into what
movie, it wouldn’t be com- looks like a video game.
up when the rounds aren’t
firing. “13 Hours,” which
Chuck Hogan adapted
from Mitchell Zuckoff’s
(Christian Black/Paramount Pictures via AP) book, is about many things,
but Bay tries to zero in on
or floating through scenes that moment when those
instead of staying static. It six contract soldiers tried to
gives the entire experience do the right thing in a diffi-
a waterfall effect. This can cult situation.
be a little dizzying but it It is neither as grossly gratu- a way of sanitizing to the
certainly keeps the energy itous as Peter Berg’s “Lone
Survivor” nor as gripping as
Ridley Scott’s “Black Hawk
Down.” Instead “13 Hours”
is a bombastic, vulgar and
often thrilling exercise in
red, white and blue ma-
chismo that relies too much
on romanticized video
game aesthetics and corny
sentimentality to be a great
film.
Bay’s heroes are the brutes
— the big, hulking, beard-
ed security guys who know
the country and the threats
more keenly than anyone.
There’s Jack Silva (John
Krasinski), Tyrone “Rone”
Woods (James Badge
Dale), Kris “Tanto” Paronto
Although “Ride Along 2”
has fancier trim than the
original, it’s really just the
same old ride. But if you
thought the first one was
fun, taking another spin
won’t disappoint.
“Ride Along 2,” a Universal
Pictures release, is rated
PG-13 by the Motion Pic-
ture Association of America
for “sequences of violence,
sexual content, language
and some drug material.
Running time: 101 minutes.
Two stars out of four.q
(Pablo Schreiber), Dave
“Boon” Benton (David Den-
man), John “Tig” Tiegen
(Dominic Fumusa), and
Mark “Oz” Geist (Max Mar-
tini).
The actors are charismatic,
but they all seem more like
types than real people.
Recent-past tributes have
point of obfuscation.
But they’re all basically no-
ble bros. Some read Joseph
Campbell, some Facetime
with their kids and wives,
some quote “Tropic Thun-
der” and all look out for
one another.
They tolerate the sniveling
condescension of doughy
CIA analysts like the chief
(David Costabile) who of-
ten reminds them that they
are only hired help and that
he and his fellow agents
are the best and the bright-
est. He even rattles off the
names of their Ivy League
credentials as though he’s
Dowager Countess of
Benghazi. q