Central Intelligence

RATING: D+

Once upon a time, I actually thought this film was going to be pretty decent for a film that's essentially a buddy cop action comedy (something I don't watch often). Heck, I recall noting that this film was coming out the same weekend as Finding Dory, and actually thinking, "This random movie looks like it could be actually more fun." (As of this writing, I still haven't seen Finding Dory, and I honestly don't expect much from it, but I do now expect it to be better than this.) Well, that turned out to not be the case. 

The film pairs together Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart; with Johnson playing the former school outcast who became a CIA operative and, as Hart's character puts it, "Jason Bourne in Jordan's." Hart plays the former school hero who is now an accountant--and is displeased with his life. Johnson shows up and says he needs his accounting skills to solve a puzzle involving some satellite codes. Or something. 

Central Intelligence is really one of those movies that pretty much literally uses all the good parts in the trailers. Johnson and Hart have some funny moments, for sure, but you probably already saw them on TV during commercial breaks during the NBA Finals. There's honestly not a whole lot else to see. The plot is mediocre at best, and the script is honestly ludicrous--the moments that actually manage to be funny are that way because of Johnson and Hart, who both manage to keep this movie from being a complete waste. 

They attempt to make it an action comedy, but the few action scenes honestly aren't that good despite getting to watch The Rock slam people around, which is always fun. The comedy? Well, there are comedic moments, but all too often it slips into typical ridiculous crude humor "comedy"--something I was hoping this movie would avoid, but it doesn't. 

So what is there to like about this movie? Not a whole lot, but Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart do admittedly save it from being a complete disaster. Their antics might just be enough for some to have fun, and if your brand of humor matches up with the majority of this film's humor, you'll probably have even more fun. And you could certainly do worse. But it's all too cookie-cutter and ridiculous and lacking in truly funny moments to really be remarkable.