'Central Intelligence' Review

I'm inserting this prologue to discuss something regarding the future of my reviews. Fairly recently, I've chosen not to review certain films as I don't feel there's enough content to discuss and at first glance that's how I felt about reviewing Central Intelligence considering it's primarily a comedy. Some of the films I've recently chosen to skip over reviewing but watched include Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, Poster: Never Stop Never Stopping, and Me Before You. I've decided that from this point on I will review all new films I watch regardless of how much I have to actually say about them meaning I will have some very brief reviews that are straight to the point and not as in depth as many of my other reviews. I'm including this prologue because I thought I should inform my readers of this change. This will only affect new releases so if I watch an old film for fun and have no reason to actually review it, I likely just will opt not to review it at that time. It's always possible I could wind up reviewing it in a Throwback Thursday Review down the line though.

'Central Intelligence' Review

Central Intelligence is about a duo of pals (I use the term pals loosely) from high school as we find Calvin Joyner, former popular king of high school turned accountant, and Bob Stone, formerly an excessively bullied fat kid who's now a ripped CIA agent. The film picks up twenty years after the pair graduated with Calvin unhappy with his dull life as an accountant. Bob arrives and requires Calvin's accounting skills to help him solve a case.

Sounds like a crazy adventure right? Well it is, and the chemistry between Kevin Hart and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson breathes life into the buddy action comedy. I don't really have much to say about the directing, editing, and cinematography, which was all pretty substandard, but I must commend the humorous contemporary screenplay that satirizes some of the most ridiculous things about society in a tasteful way written by Ike Barinholtz, David Stassen, and Rawson Marshall Thurber.

Is the screenplay genius? No, but it me bursting out with laughter, so it succeeded in that endeavor. The team of writers also managed to insert an endearing message about bullying into the mix of things that was a nice touch. Sure the plot's simple and pretty basic, but the incentive to see the film isn't the story.

Rawson Marshall Thurber directs in addition to writing and manages to do a great job focusing first and foremost on keeping the antics funny and not ever being too action heavy. Sure, the spy stuff is a tad ridiculous at times, but this is a comedy after all, so it never bothered me.

Really the film revolves around the pair of Kevin Hart and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. As I said earlier, the two carry the film all the way across the finish line and it relies entirely upon the humor interplaying between the twosome. Both actors defy expectations by playing the reverse of their typical roles as Hart is the straight man and Johnson's the fun guy, a refreshing change of pace for both actors, although they do fall into some of their common mannerisms at times. You can certainly tell the two had a blast making the flick as it just feels fun.

I do think this is one of the better performances from Kevin Hart as he tones down his typical raunchiness and gives a genuine effort rather than constantly trying to be the funniest one onscreen.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson makes every moment onscreen enjoyable, as he just sweats charisma,  shows off some serious acting chops with a grounded subplot arc about bullying, and kicks butt in some crazy action sequences. This role is perfectly suited to "The Rock" and feels a lot like his real life persona. There are also many surprising entertaining celebrity cameos that made me chuckle.

In all honesty, this film is just what it's meant to be. Shameless fun. You'll probably have a good time thanks to some witty jokes and the electric chemistry between Hart and Johnson but the film is just a passable buddy action comedy. Don't expect anything groundbreaking or the greatest comedy of all time, just a "good time."

Film Assessment: C