I think I saw the original, but I don't remember it. And maybe a sequel. Maybe both of them.
I don't know the 'hood but I've seen plenty of TV series and movies. There is a good story here and great efforts to find solutions to problems. Maybe government can't do it all, but if individuals can solve their own problems, that's great. Things can be bad in the 'hood and they didn't ignore what can happen there.
Even though I am white, I wasn't bothered by the comments about white people. I enjoy Chris Rock's insults, for example, though he isn't in this movie. At the same time, I'd have been happier if they had come from Anthony Anderson. I really enjoyed his characters rants about white people on "Black-ish". And while you probably have to keep the same actors in a sequel, I would have liked him better as the lead. He was still very good as a con artist type claiming to do good, and someone we could root for even if he wasn't on the right side of good and evil. His co-worker from "Black-ish", Deon Cole, added to this movie as well.
One problem for me with this movie as that between the time it was made and the time I saw it while at the beach, Cedric the Entertainer had a legendary TV series in which he played a businessman named Calvin. So this movie was very confusing. Eddie is a very different character, but entertaining. Still, I was confused a lot when Calvin was mentioned.
And on the subject of Calvin, he was quite a good character too. I mostly know Ice Cube from his role as the intimidating and disapproving brother-in-law of his movie character in the TV series "Are We There Yet?" based on the movie. He is somewhat toned down here compared to that, but someone who can be respected for his caring attitude and his determination to keep a business in a bad neighborhood while he has to weigh the pros and cons of raising his son elsewhere.
Common, as in "The Wiz", was anything but. He went above and beyond in scenes that were not funny.
I know J. B. Smoove as a smooth-talking and charming man much like he is here, from a series whose name I don't even remember, and probably no one does, which starred the actress who played the wife of the glee club leader from "Glee". And he is good here, and on the wrong side of good and evil like Anderson's character.
I didn't recognize Utkarsh Ambudkar until he said he was Indian (from India) and then I realized. He's the husband who can't see the ghosts his wife talks to. And he's quite good here, disagreeing with those who are not from the same ethnic group as he is.
I didn't recognize Lamorne Morris of "New Girl" but I liked him there and I liked him here.
I haven't mentioned any women, but I just didn't care for them. And I certainly didn't like the raunchy talk about ... relationships.
Also, even though someone decided to put a TV-14 on this movie, BET left in every use of the S-word they possibly could. I could have done without that.
It was mostly a worthwhile sequel and even stands on its own.
