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Film News South Africa

#OnTheBigScreen: Tom and Jerry and Coming 2 America

This week's box office entries see our favourite duelling duo Tom and Jerry head to the big screen, while Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall return as Prince Akeem and Semmi in Coming 2 America.

Tom and Jerry

Whether you cheer for Tom or Jerry, chances are that in the 80 years the duelling duo has been entertaining audiences of all ages, you’ve picked a side.

One of the most beloved rivalries in history is reignited when Jerry moves into New York City’s finest hotel on the eve of “the wedding of the century”, forcing the event’s desperate planner, Kayla (ChloĆ« Grace Moretz), to hire Tom to get rid of him, in director Tim Story’s Tom and Jerry. The ensuing cat and mouse battle threatens to destroy her career, the wedding and possibly the hotel itself. But soon, an even bigger problem arises: a diabolically ambitious staffer conspiring against all three of them.

An eye-popping blend of classic animation and live-action, Tom and Jerry’s new adventure stakes new ground for the iconic characters and forces them to eventually do the unthinkable - work together to save the day.

Director Tim Story was eager to take on the classic duelling duo Tom and Jerry for a modern movie audience from a screenplay by Kevin Costello.

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Coming 2 America

Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall reprise their much-loved characters of Prince Akeem and Semmi in the comedy sequel Coming 2 America. Set after the events of the first film, it follows former Prince Akeem Joffer as he is set to become King of Zamunda. He discovers he has a son he never knew about in America – a street-savvy Queens native named Lavelle (Jermaine Fowler). Honouring his royal father’s (James Earl Jones) dying wish to groom this son as the crown prince, Akeem and Semmi (Arsenio Hall) set off to America once again.

Directed by Craig Brewer, from a screenplay by Kenya Barris, Barry W Blaustein and David Sheffield, and a story by Blaustein, Sheffield and Justin Kanew, based on characters created by Eddie Murphy. It is the second instalment in the Coming to America film series and serves as a sequel to the original 1988 film.

“In Coming To America, an African prince travels to America to find a regular girl and he brings her back to make her his princess. It’s a modern fairytale that a lot of people love and also, it was the very first time they ever had a movie with Black folks, where you had kings and queens,” Eddie Murphy says. “This film is a really cool continuation of that story and I want people to have a great experience while watching it.”

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About Daniel Dercksen

Daniel Dercksen has been a contributor for Lifestyle since 2012. As the driving force behind the successful independent training initiative The Writing Studio and a published film and theatre journalist of 40 years, teaching workshops in creative writing, playwriting and screenwriting throughout South Africa and internationally the past 22 years. Visit www.writingstudio.co.za
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