Ride Along

Kevin Hart tries nerdy, Ice Cube stars as Ice Cube, not a laugh heard

This story shouldn't be too hard to some up. Kevin Hart is dating the sister of a cop, and seeks to be a cop himself. The brother cop (Ice Cube) is a "loose cannon" that likes to cause property damage in his pursuit of a mysterious gang boss that no one has ever seen before. He is on thin ice (heh, Ice Cube) with his lieutenant for all of the damage he has caused, and rules he has broken.   The cop does not like the man his sister has chosen, and Kevin Hart seeks to prove himself by going on a "ride along" (basically means he is going to sit in a car, and see what the brother cop has to do everyday). During this ride along Ice Cube tries to break Kevin Hart's spirit for joining the police force, and scare him away from marrying his sister. During his attempt in trying to break Kevin's spirit the gang boss Ice Cube has been trying to bring down this entire time makes his biggest move yet, and (after being forced to) Ice Cube brings Kevin Hart along in an attempt to bring the man to justice. 

How do you say cliche in two words? "Ride Along." You know those movies that you can just tell are going to be bad from the previews, but you say "it might be worth it because actor X is in it," then it turns out to be bad? This is the poster child for that type of film. Sloppy, unoriginal, and tries to skate by on the stardom of one or two of the stars in it. The story line is a complete copy and paste from "Idiot's guide to making a buddy cop film." The scenes are cheesy, and lack any sort of depth to them. It follows a guide line set by movies like "Lethal Weapon" and "Rush Hour;" however, unlike those movies, this movie didn't bring anything new and interesting to the table. It basically said "hey, Kevin Hart is getting big and Ice Cube has experience playing a cop. Let's put them in a movie." To which someone should have asked about the script, but I guess everyone in the office that day was too entertained by the idea of making an off shoot of "Bad Boys."

Aside from the writing, let's talk about the acting. Certainly something with bad writing like this has to have good actors to make the movie at least somewhat watchable, right? Wrong. Of course that is wrong. What are we going to see from Ice Cube that we didn't already see in "Friday," "21 Jump Street," or any of the other films where he has never changed his persona? What are we going to see from Kevin Hart that we haven't seen in his stand up? The only thing this movie proved to me is that Kevin Hart still can't seem to break his stage character, and that John Leguizamo needs a better agent. Why did I single out John Leguizamo? He is the only actor through out this entire film that once showed a promising talent for the said career path. I miss him in movies like "Romeo and Juliet," I miss him movies like "Summer of Sam," I'll even take him in the four "Ice Age" movies, or even "Super Mario Bros." I hate seeing him as this replaceable side character that is just there to fill space.

Let me make one thing perfectly clear (since I know I am going to be hearing from the billions of Kevin Hart fans out there over this). I am not saying I hate Kevin Hart. I like his stand up, I don't like him in this movie. What made him think he could play Martin Lawrence's character from "Bad Boys 2" (badly), and still get positive reviews on this. Right now, he is wasting his fame on movies like this. He should be trying to go the Adam Sandler route if he doesn't want to end up like so many SNL failures before him. Do stand up, choose the right script, make a name for yourself, then release a bunch of shitty movies. He just needs to try and not take the "Dane Cook route" he is on.

There is just a lot of this movie that bugged me. Like the video game nerd being taught a lesson about how real life is not a game, only for that lesson to go out the window when they see actual combat. Like the shameless product placement. Like the fact the Kevin Hart's biggest joke (even in his movies) is his height, and the fact that he is black. So many issues, that I cannot think of a reason why anyone would actually want to go see this movie. They even stole jokes from movies like "Role Models," and still managed to mess up the delivery. I guess there are some smile worthy scenes in this, but not worth me telling you to waste your money on.

Final Verdict: Pirate it the only reason I am telling you that it might be worth at least some of your time is because of a few scenes that made me smile a bit. Even then, it is hard for me not to put the "Don't do it" stamp on this. If you are a fan of Kevin Hart or Ice Cube, I am sure you will find some sort of joy in this, but I just couldn't see any appeal. If you have seen any of the other movies I have mentioned you are better off re-watching them. Yes, even "Super Mario Bros."