Central Intelligence (2016) - Film Review

Kevin Hart plays the popular, successful high school kid, Calvin Joyner aka the Golden Jet, who shows an act of kindness to bubbly, bullied, overweight Robbie Whierdicht Dwayne Johnson, yes, pronounced 'weird dick' at High School. Fast forward twenty years to present day and Joyner is not the success everyone thought he would be and Robbie, well, he becomes Bob Stone aka The Rock who happens to be an agent at LARGE for the CIA.

What this movie excels at is the simple humor they go for. Central Intelligence is the type of film which will make you relax and enjoy the ride. One of the most freakishly timed jokes is the one about Taylor Swift, who currently has a new beau. The “You two look like Taylor Swift and whoever she is dating now.” made me laugh. Another few notable ones would be “You look like a black Will Smith” or the name “Snake Gylenhall”. Rings a bell? What makes this type of jokes so good is the fact they are not forced. There’re out there, just waiting for someone to grab them and Central Intelligence had no problem with capturing them in one film.

The humour of the situation, together with jokes, the on screen chemistry, The Rock and Kevin Hart have, together with some proper action scenes will make this film a Sunday hit. Let’s make it clear, when I say action scenes I’m talking about bombs, all sorts of shootings, one to one and one to multiples combat and jumping from tall buildings, landing on an inflatable monkey and stealing an Uber ordered car to escape the bullets which were still being fired at them.

Of course, you also have the emotional trauma attached the Bob’s past and the bond the two main characters end up having, but that is only a small part of this movie. What it lacks in plot, it will make up in shootings and laughter. And sometimes that exactly the type of film we need when we want to forget for an hour or two about the harsh reality.

Central Intelligence is fun and witty in a minimalistic way. It will make you laugh, make you say “You show them!” and entertain you. I’d say that’s a pretty sweet.