To say that I had high expectations going into Need For Speed would be an outright lie. I had very low expectations, and rightfully so, as the trailers and posters did little to nothing for the film. With the exception of Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) as the lead, it had zero star power. So, was my assumption true? Yes, the movie is no good. Now onto what is at fault for this travesty.
Franchise reboots can be a very tricky thing to get right. Especially if the previous versions were widely popular, i.e. Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994). Luckily for Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, it only had to beat out the putrid Sum of All Fears (2002). So how did it do? For me, it not only made me forget about Sum of All Fears, it also put up a very worthy fight to hang with the original Jack Ryan films.
So, to say I had high expectations going into Ride Along would be a lie. I went into the theater thinking I would bear witness to a watered down version of The Heat (2013) with Kevin Hart playing Mellissa McCarthy and Ice Cube playing Sandra Bullock. I must admit, though, when I first heard about this film, I was hoping for a glorious mix of 48 Hours and Bad Boys. What I got in the end was something entirely different.
Where it fails as an action movie it, excels as a comedy. The on-screen pairing of Kevin Hart and Ice Cube will be the sole reason for this film’s success.
Would Chris Pine really be able to kick Harrison Ford’s behind? The answer is nope, but he comes very close.