Ride Along 2014 review

Genre: Comedy, Action, Buddy Cop,
Starring: Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Laurence Fishburne, Tike Sumpter, John Leguizamo, Bryan Callen, Bruce McGill,
Year Of Release: 2014
Certificate: 12A (UK)
Runtime: 99 minutes
Director: Tim Story

Synopsis: Fast-talking security guard Ben joins his cop brother-in-law James on a 24-hour patrol of Atlanta in order to prove himself worthy of marrying Angela, James' sister. IMDB

Whenever I see either of these guys attached to a project I get kind of excited, been a huge Ice Cube fan since way back "Boyz N The Hood" is an all time favourite of mine. As for Hart he is consistently funny in his films.

Let me just go on the record an say don't go into this film expecting something great, this is far from a great film, it is even far from a great Comedy film. However, it is a very fun and enjoyable watch. 

Ben Barber (Hart) starts off as a high school security guard with an unhealthy obsession for shooting games with aspirations of becoming a cop. He lives in an incredible apartment with his fiancée Angela (Tika Sumpter) and from the get go you know these two are insanely in love with each other. The main stumbling block for this relationship is Angela's brother, who is more like a father to her James (Ice Cube) and it is made abundantly clear he does not like Ben one bit!

Which leads us to the juicy part of the story, Ben trying to prove himself worthy enough to be Angela's husband, by joining the Atlanta PD. James reluctantly invites Ben for a ride along, which ends up being filled to the brim with crimes James has asked to be given to drive Ben away from being a cop. During the ride along they come across a case James has been working for the past few years trying to take down crime lord Omar (Fishbourne). Leading to the climax of the film which leaves James and Ben in a lot more trouble than expected, resulting in James' opinion of the little man changing drastically.

This film is no different to any of the other Buddy Cop/Comedies you have seen or are likely to see in the coming years, they are all pretty similar, which isn't me being judgemental just speaking the truth. If you look back to how Eddie Murphy made a name for himself it was back in the 1980's when he made "48 hrs" which is credited as the first buddy cop film. Some people complain that now-a-days all these films are just copies of copies of copies, which to an extent are true, but as the old adage goes "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

The best part of this film is Kevin Harts comedic style of acting, I think without Hart this film would have been pretty poor. I may get slated for this opinion, however, I will go on record and say that I think Hart has the talent to be considered up their with Martin Lawrence and maybe even Eddie Murphy in their prime.

Overall the film is a pretty fun watch, not too different to the past Buddy Comedies we have seen, and I will say I was very happy with the little use of the N word. Buddy Comedy films have never been known for their great plots or their unexpected twists, so don't expect that with this flick. Just sit down and enjoy a fun film full of laughs.

7/10