Central Intelligence

Recently a lot of Kevin Hart's movies have been pretty lack luster. The Ride Along movies and Get Hard were shredded by critics. When I saw the trailer for Central Intelligence, I thought this would be just another one of those flicks. Thankfully, I was very wrong! The page here lists the film as an "action, comedy, crime" movie but really it is more of a "action, comedy, drama" flick. Dwayne Johnson plays the gentle giant Bob Stone/Robby Weirdicht (haha pun) who works for the CIA while Kevin Hart plays the everyday joe Calvin Joyner (a nice change of pace in my opinion). These two are the reason this film works as pure entertainment. They have great chemistry together and they play rather interesting characters. Robby is on the same level as Jason Bourne when it comes to hand to hand combat and other spy stuff like that but he has the sensitivity and the tastes of a fourteen year old girl. I don't care who you are, you have to admit that's hilarious. Calvin was the favorite student of his high school but now he is just a washed up accountant upset with where his life has gone. Hart and Johnson bring some real comedy to their roles as well as true conviction. You can believe that these two are dealing with some real emotional problems. I never thought of either of them as good actors but they do a splendid job here. The stunts they pull also look so very realistic. They are very thrilling and pretty creative too. Now the movie isn't without problems-what movie is? The spy portion of the plot is pretty straight forward and shallow. It's obviously just an excuse to get these two together but is that really such a bad thing when what they are offering is so good? Central Intelligence is kind of like that movie Twins with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Devito. Two popular actors play as comic foils to one another as well as provide great drama with some cool stunts thrown in. What more could you want?

Central Intelligence sees a high school fat kid Rob Wierdich who is humiliated at his last day in school being transformed into muscular but timid Rob Stone (Dwayne Johnson) who is now a CIA operative.

Twenty years later and with a high school reunion on the horizon Stone hooks up with Calvin Joyner (Kevin Hart) the star student known as the Golden Jet and the only one who came to Wierdich's aid. Joyner's career as an accountant has not been as stellar that high school promised but Stone wants to use his skills to decrypt some financial transactions. The agency thinks that Stone has gone rogue and are out to get him.

This is essentially a buddy action comedy. Hart is actually the straight man, leaving the light goofy comedy to Johnson. They make a good team but the plot is too formulaic and unadventurous. Still the offbeat characterisation from Hart and Johnson makes this film amusing enough.

Here comes another buddy cop film,this time with Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart in the lead roles.I thought this movie would fail miserably.I thought it was ripping off Ride Along(which is not a good film to rip off) but it surprisingly stands on its own and makes for a fun time at the movies.Bob Stone asks his old classmate,Calvin Joyner to help him with his computer skills.I don't really like Kevin Hart all that much,because he plays the same character in every film and even though he does have acting skills,he goes OTT in every performance.But his character is a bit more serious in this one and Dwayne Johnson is awesome as ever in his role.The main strength of this movie is the chemistry between the 2 leads.They are so much fun to watch.One is a fearless agent and the other a normal guy who can't even hold a gun.There are some nice jokes and gags as well.

On the downside,the film falters sometimes in the plot section.Yet another OTT performance by Kevin Hart(as mentioned above) I wish the action scenes had a bit more lustre in them.But do not be bothered by that because this is the action junkie in me speaking,and you may like this movie more than I did.

This movie isn't completely flawless,nor is it totally groundbreaking in the buddy cop genre.But it is still worth watching in the theatre,thanks to the chemistry between the 2 leads and a lot of laughs.

Central Intelligence is a great movie with a well developed plot and a terrific comedic cast. It's a fun, mindless comedy action that you can switch off from reality while watching and have a good time, there are many side splitting moments and even parts that had me at the edge of my seat. The writers did a great job of making us care for these characters before they set off on their journey, which helped out in the long run. However, the pacing was certainly slow, it was not as action packed and intense as the trailers made it out to be, there's a lot of slower moments, even times where I was begging for some plot development instead of mindless comedy. The cast are terrific, Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson shine in the lead roles and their chemistry is the film's highlight, they are joined by a stellar supporting cast that includes Amy Ryan and Aaron Paul, as well as a few brilliant cameos. It also deserves credit for switching roles and getting the lead actors to do something unexpected of them, putting the well known comedian, Hart, in a straight role and putting an action star, Johnson, as the flamboyant, over the top character, this differentiated the movie, making it more interesting. Though it may not be as exciting as the trailers made it seem, Central Intelligence is simple fun, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good action or comedy.

An accountant gets himself in trouble with the law after reuniting with an old high school acquaintance looking to prove his innocence.

Best Performance: Aaron Paul

Now I will state from the start that Kevin Hart as a comedian has never appealed to me and so therefore that also translates into his films having never been intrigued enough to go see one of his (some of the critical receptions bare this out) but this is obviously where that trend ends for me.

In this 'mismatched' buddy action comedy both Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson seem to have stumbled upon some fabulous comedic chemistry that I most certainly didn't see coming.

Having stated my indifference earlier to Kevin Hart I am at the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to Dwayne Johnson, a man, an actor who probably shouldn't be as successful as he is...yet I can't resist his charms, there is just something inherently likable about the man as an on screen presence and as an actor in general and that is no different here.

Quick plot synopsis now, flashback to high school, Hart is Mr. Popular, Johnson is the school joke, flash-forward twenty years to the present day where after a social media inspired meetup if would appear maybe that now the two have switched places in life (quite a common story arc) and what may also be certainly more concerning for Hart is the fact that Johnson may appear to be a spy on the run, so ensues a parade of nifty chase sequences some rather inspired and choreographed escape fighting scenes interspersed of course with Hart chipping in with comedic observations of their currently absurd predicament. There is in particular a scene where Johnson has replaced the role of a therapist who is about to give marriage counsel to Hart and his wife and it is extremely funny.

This should not of entertained me as much as it did and trust me I am as surprised as anyone that it got many laughs out of me, it certainly does remind me in parts to 21 Jump Street, what I mean by that is it being a nice comedic surprise of a film that has the laughs but actually does in part also have a heart in place, or as the brilliant marketing department said on the films tagline and posters 'It takes a little Hart and a big Johnson' just superb.

I was a little concerned after the films opening which I mentioned earlier is a flashback to high school where we see the rather unsubtle face of Johnson transposed onto the head and body of a rather overweight kid but the film got out of that just pure weird territory quicker than expected, yes not every joke hits the mark but the success to failure rate is amply way on the positive side of things and the pace and action is brisk enough that it never overstays its welcome which is very surprising given the near two hour feature length running time.

But I suppose the main question that does have to be asked though is 'who is the Black Badger' maybe I'm the Black Badger, as Thomas Kretschmann brilliantly puts it.

So it's not particularly going to change the comedic landscape out there but it more than succeeds in keeping you very entertained throughout mainly thanks to the great comedic chemistry that Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson bring to the party.