Central Intelligence
3 out of 5
When I first heard about this movie, I thought to myself that it looked like a re-packaged Ride Along with Ice Cube and Kevin Hart from 2014, and the more recent Ride Along 2 from this year. I wondered how they could make a movie with what appeared to be the same basic plot and even characters (even one of the same actors) — a macho, can do everything cop / agent, paired up with a small, can’t do anything normal person. Turns out — that’s pretty much what Central Intelligence is. The funny thing is — it still works. Now don’t get me wrong — this isn’t going to be an Academy Award Winner, or even a favorite among the regular movie critics. I’m not a normal movie critic though. I love movies, I know how hard they are to make, and I know when I’m watching one what its purpose is…To entertain you, and allow you to forget everything outside the darkened theater for a couple of hours. Central Intelligence does just that. The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) is exactly what you’d expect, and the hilarious Kevin Hart is just that — hilarious. So for that reason — is it worth your money to go see? Well, do you like to laugh? Do you like to go to movies and be entertained? Then, you will enjoy this movie.
The film opens with a flashback to 1996 — when Johnson and Hart’s characters are in high school. Robbie Wierdicht, or Bob Stone later on in the movie, is played by The Rock, and Calvin Joyner, aka The Golden Jet, is Kevin Hart. The twist here being that Joyner is actually the high school’s most popular guy, with Stone being the overweight, sensitive and often bullied kid in the school. As The Golden Jet is being recognized as the most likely to succeed beyond high school by his class, a bunch of bullies pull a prank on Robbie and send him into the gym where the class presentation is taking place — fresh out of the shower. The entire class laughs and makes fun of Robbie — all of them except Calvin Joyner, who helps Robbie out. Flash forward to 2016, and the 20 year class reunion is about to take place and Joyner has not succeeded the way he wanted to. He is wrestling with whether he should even go. Meanwhile Robbie, now Bob Stone, invites The Jet to get together for some drinks and dinner, which Joyner reluctantly does. Here we meet the new and improved Robbie Wierdicht, as he now looks as we’ve come to expect The Rock to look — with the added accessories of a Unicorn t-shirt, jean shorts and a fanny pack. Of course, the meeting isn’t just an innocent “let’s catch up” get together, as Bob Stone needs the unknowing Calvin to help him solve a dangerous plot to sell U.S. spy satellite information to a really bad guy. This is where the movie really starts, and where Johnson and Hart move right into the characters everyone has come to know over the years. I’ll admit I’m a big Kevin Hart fan, he simply makes me laugh. It doesn’t matter if it’s something he’s saying, or doing, he is just funny. And let’s face it, The Rock always looks the part when he’s kicking butt, although this time he does it as a lovable dufus.
That’s why this movie works for me. Has it been done before, and recently? Yes. But everyone in the movie works hard to make you laugh, and though as with the others that have come before it, you can call the ending about 10 minutes in — the movie isn’t there to make you think too much. You’re there to laugh and have a good time. That’s what I did anyway. If you understand that going in — you’re going to enjoy this movie. If you’re looking for something heavy and world changing…Wrong movie. Me? I laughed all the way through, and I would expect we’ll be seeing more of Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart on the big screen together in the future.
