Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson goes from one extreme to another. Either he is playing the badass guy who can kick anyone’s butt or he is playing a silly character in a comedy movie. This time, he combined these two roles in the character of Robert Weirdicht aka Bob Stone. “Central Intelligence” is a buddy action comedy of today with a splash of 1930s movie slapstick.
When it comes to “Central Intelligence,” there is absolutely nothing you can dislike about it. For example, there is a kitchen fight in the movie where a man with a knife fights a man with a banana. In the end, the man with the banana wins. It may seem ridiculous to you, but it is quite amazing. It feels like the movie says “I am the kind of the movie where you can murder a man with a banana. Enjoy.” And you absolutely will.
The greatest thing about the movie is the relationship between Kevin Hart (Calvin Joyner) and Dwayne Johnson (Bob Stone). Their differences are so iconic, especially their height difference, but the movie will make you believe in their relationship. In addition, you may not take them seriously, but “Central Intelligence” takes these two seriously as characters with unrealized aspirations; two men who have deep feelings even though they do not want to show them. However, each of them embodies the other’s fantasies of true success. Bob is the knight in shining armor Calvin was supposed to become. On the other hand, Bob dreams about the stable relationship Calvin and his high school sweetheart Maggie still have.
In addition, the jokes will leave you breathless – literally. The audience barely has the time to recover from their laugh between two different punch lines. There is no doubt that some of the scenes were improvised, but the script itself is incredibly efficient and light.
What some people resent about the movie is its “lack of originality.” Some claim that Johnson and Hart promised something they can’t deliver – “a movie as funny as they are.” Others have complained of the cartoon-like violence. Isn’t that the point? The movie is a comedy, and comedies shouldn’t be brutal (think of “Deadpool”). Guns, knives, and punches are included, but rivals end up scratched instead of bleeding out to death.
“Central Intelligence” received mixed to positive reviews. Metacritic gave the movie a score of 52 out of 100, Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a rating of 68%, whereas CinemaScore gave “Central Intelligence” an average grade of “A-”.
The movie was released on June 17, 2016, and “Finding Dory” was released at the same time. During the opening weekend, the movie grossed around $30 million, and ended up at the second place at the box office, right behind “Finding Dory.” The most recent information released confirms that “Central Intelligence” has a worldwide total gross of $206.2 million, against the budget of $50 million.
Check out how much fun Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson had while shooting the movie in the video below.
