In 2014, I found nothing to laugh about in Ride Along, a chalk-and-cheese buddy/cop action comedy that became a moneyspinning hit. This inevitable sequel has already knocked Star Wars: The Force Awakens off the number one spot in the US, proving, once again, that critics really do have zero effect on box office. A slight improvement on its predecessor, Ride Along 2 finds Kevin Hart’s hyperactive rookie accompanying brother-in-law-to-be Ice Cube’s streetwise detective to Florida, where Benjamin Bratt’s slimy businessman/gangster is awaiting an illegal shipment.
As before, Hart and Cube’s abrasive sass is the only joke in town, with Ken Jeong dialling it down ever so slightly as the irksome techie AJ, and Olivia Munn almost saving the day as no-nonsense detective Maya. Not good, then, but not especially terrible and infinitely preferable to the excrescence of Hart’s previous outing, Get Hard.
