“Central Intelligence”: Ass Kickin’ and Gut Bustin’

What’s up, y’all?  Sometime last year, I remember Rock posting some photo stills on his Instagram page from Central Intelligence, and I knew I had to see it.  Rock and Kevin Hart together?  That’s gonna be one hilarious doggone movie.  Sure enough, I went to see the film this past Saturday (June 25, 2016), and I wasn’t disappointed.

The movie basically tells the story of Calvin (Kevin Hart), who was on top of the world when he was in high school, and Robbie (Rock), whose life was a complete 180º from Calvin’s.  Whereas Calvin was adored in school, Robbie was the target of vicious bullies.  However, despite Calvin’s high standing social status, he helps Robbie when the latter is publicly humiliated during Assembly Day.

Fast forward twenty years later, and Calvin is an accountant that suffers the pain of watching his assistant being promoted over him.  Robbie, on the other hand, has transformed himself into CIA agent Bob Stone, a muscular one-man fighting machine that has an affinity for unicorns and the film Sixteen Candles (I like unicorns and Sixteen Candles, too!).  Bob, who never forgot the kindness Calvin showed towards him, invites him to have drinks on the eve of their 20 year high school reunion.  Bob also takes the opportunity to have Calvin access accounting records from his old job…or so he says.  From there, the movie takes off.

Y’all, I highly recommend this movie.  First of all—and once again, I know I’m fashionably late to the party, but I’m working with a limited budget—this movie’s been out for over a week, but to my surprise, when I arrived at the cinema the auditorium was jam packed.  Usually if a week has passed since the opening weekend, you’ll see about five people in attendance afterward, unless it’s a Marvel movie or Star Wars.  The fact that there were only about ten or fifteen seats left proved to me that this movie was gonna be good.  Rock and Kevin make a great comedy duo, and surprisingly enough, the critics were right (not saying they’re always wrong, but I thought they may be mistaken about this aspect)…Rock is actually funnier than Kevin in this film.  Kevin still delivers, however.  His jokes pretty much start the second Rock appears.  I also enjoyed some of the messages the movie offered.  It speaks against bullying and also has a theme of being happy with yourself (Lord knows Bob wasn’t afraid to be himself).  What really stuck out to me is how Bob convinced Calvin to be “the hero of his own story” and take chances; to realize that his life has meaning.  A lot of us have been there, including myself:  we were ready to take over the world after high school, but reality had much different plans.  Last but not least, Rock is so damn cute in this movie.  His body is bangin’ (as usual), and his childlike ways and super enthusiasm make you wanna melt.

That’s not to say that this movie isn’t without its flaws, however.  There’s a few jokes that fall flat and some moments that could’ve been executed a little better, but those moments are few and far between.  I also have to admit that the explanation behind the “Black Badger’s” (the mysterious bad guy in the movie) plan was pretty rushed, and although I knew why Calvin and Bob had to team up to stop this guy, I wasn’t exactly sure why.  Bob said he needed Calvin’s accounting skills, but it seems a computer tech could’ve done the same thing.  Color me dumb.  Maybe I just need to watch the movie again.

Aside from those slight setbacks, the film was extremely enjoyable and I really liked the positive messages that it had.  Also, you’ll never guess who the actual “Black Badger” is (or maybe I’m just that damn gullible).  So if you’re in the mood for a really funny action buddy comedy, and you’re sick of watching Lethal Weapon and Rush Hour for the millionth time (no disrespect to either of those films; we love ’em, but we’ve all seen ’em a million times!  Real talk), go see Central Intelligence.  You’ll even enjoy the previews before the movie (seriously, I laughed the entire twenty minutes before the film!)!

—Written by Nadiya

So what did y’all think about Central Intelligence?  Is it hilarious, or does it not live up to the hype?  If you haven’t seen it yet, do you think you will?  Do Rock and Kevin Hart make a great duo, or do they have no chemistry at all?  Give me your thoughts!