Ride Along Review

3.5 out of 5

Action, Comedy

The Verdict

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Kevin Hart and Ice Cube fans who want an easy, light buddy-cop comedy. It’s rated PG-13 for violence, sexual content and language.

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Synopsis

Ben Barber (Kevin Hart) is a smart mouth, high spirited security guard at a high school. He’s ready to ask for his girlfriend’s hand in marriage but there’s only one hurdle left which is her overprotective brother, James Payton (Ice Cube). In order to gain the blessing for marriage Ben must prove he can hold his own during a rough and tough ride along.

Spoiler Warning!!! Full Review Below

Full Review (Spoilers)

Producers: Ice Cube

The Good

This was a pleasant movie to watch. If you’re looking for a nice laugh then this is the movie for you. The mix of action and comedy worked well.

Kevin Hart’s comedic timing played well in this movie. His character would make you laugh with each scene. He made the movie enjoyable. You could tell he was invested into this movie and it paid off well for him.

The action of this movie was decent. This movie had decent fight scenes that worked well with the plot.

Laurence Fishburne appears in this movie as the top bad guy. It was a delight seeing him pop out from behind the scenes. He was a surprise add to the film.

The Bad

The plot of the movie was predictable. You could tell what would happen next. It followed the blueprint for buddy cop movies. They should have tried to bring a fresher twist to the buddy cop movie.

The identities of the dirty cops came out too soon. It happened during the first couple minutes of the story. You could tell both cops were dirty because they seem shifty since the beginning of the movie. They didn’t leave it for you to guess, it was too obvious.

Laurence Fishburne wasn’t a real threat during this movie. He was the top villain with the qualities of a regular henchmen and after the first couple of minutes on the screen you notice his short comings. This became particularly true when he failed to kill Cube’s character at the house. He just felt like a very beatable villain.

Ice Cube playing the tough cop reminds me of some other roles in his list of characters. He reminded me too much of his character from XXX or 21 Jump Street. It was a recycled persona that fell flat at times.

Originally published on the Bring On The Reviews Blogspot blog on March 16, 2014.

Ride Along (2014) Cast and Details

Ride Along (2014) is directed by Tim Story and stars Ice Cube and Kevin Hart. It runs 99 minutes and is rated PG-13. You can look up the full cast and crew on IMDb. You might also like my Ferris Bueller’s Day Off review.

DC's Hypothetical Corner

Let’s say I change one thing. Maybe that one thing will make this movie better or more watchable.

It would be a different movie if Hart’s character was the top bad guy. There’s a scene in the movie where Hart’s character fakes it as the bad guy in order to save Cube’s character. Think of how much the movie would change if that slight twist happened. Just picture this movie with Dave Chappelle as Ben Barber, and Martin Lawrence as James Payton. Think of it as…”Blue Streak 2: Guess who’s coming home for dinner”.

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