“A prince in New York” 1 and 2: Eddie returns

Thirty-three years after “A prince in New York”, Eddie Murphy finds his character of African sovereign. If “A prince in New York 2” does not rise to the height of its good intentions, the best way to taste it will be to chain the two episodes by performing a somersault in time from his sofa.

In 1988, when “A prince in New York” came out, Eddie Murphy was indeed a prince. Trained in stand-up, the actor has multiplied hits like “48 Hours” by Walter Hill, and two episodes of “Beverly Hills Cop”. His new adventure opens in Africa, in the kingdom of Zamunda. Crown Prince, Akeem has reached the age of marriage. However, against tradition, he decides to choose his own wife. What better place to find a princess than the Queens neighborhood of New York?

Anonymous in the crowd, the prince is hired in a fast food restaurant. The boss’s daughter will be the chosen one of her heart and the next queen of Zamunda. In the second part, thirty years have passed. The couple have three daughters but no male heirs. Akeem discovers a hidden son in New York, conceived during a night of drinking. He leaves to seek his successor on the other side of the world.

Bleached suite

The first episode laughed at America through the candid gaze of a visitor. New York, a city populated by madmen, did not obey codes so different from Zamunda. An African immigrant there even suffered racist remarks and humiliations from a black American. Finally, the prince chose as his wife an heiress of the lower middle class of Queens, in his way the princess of the district. In Africa as in America, the rich and beautiful recognize each other. “A prince in New York” was overflowing with swear words, daring stripped-down shots and trickery that a largely bleached suite no longer allows itself. Cinema has changed, like the city that Akeem finds.

In 2020, Queens became gentrified. The Obama years did not change the fate of the black community. This second part will take place mainly at Zamunda, a kingdom reduced to a palace in the colors of confectionery. In this chimerical Africa, “the prince of New York 2” sees a new promised land. The Zamunda becomes an amusement park, refuge of the last survivors of the popular districts of New York and forgotten artists like En Vogue or Salt-N-Pepa. This feeling of a black American dream extinguished, then resuscitated in an Africa of cardboard, can make this comedy heated, if not hilarious, at least sometimes touching. Finally, just like “Borat 2”, “A prince in New York 2” draws this conclusion: it is up to young girls to write the world of tomorrow.