Movie Review-Cenrtal Intellegence

 Central Intelligence is a new action/comedy pairing comedian Kevin Hart with action star Dwayne Johnson. The two are hilarious together with a serious “bro-mance” going on between the two former high school classmates. Johnson plays Bob Stone, a former overweight geek in high school who’s now a lean mean fighting machine and an operative for the C.I.A.

Hart’s character, Calvin Joyner, was voted “most likely to succeed” in high school but now, 20 years later he feels like he’s stuck in a rut, going nowhere, in his job as a forensic accountant. He did marry his high school sweetheart, Maggie (Danielle Nicolet). She is now a corporate attorney and things all come to a head when their big high school reunion comes up and Calvin decides he doesn’t want to go.

The story starts to spin out of control when his old high school classmate, Bob Stone, sends him a friend request on Face Book and then immediately sends him a direct message inviting him to meet for drinks. After meeting for drinks, and seeing Bob teach a few guys in the bar a lesson for bullying his diminutive friend, the two become inseparable (literally) as Calvin unknowingly and unwillingly gets involved in a C.I.A. mission of counter terrorism and espionage.

It’s all a laugh a minute and the chemistry between the two main characters is a perfect match of opposites in the big screen. Spoiler Alert: Calvin and Bob end up saving the world and the action and fun involved in doing so is non-stop. I also enjoyed the anti-bullying message that was delivered in a fun and subtle way through out the film. The movie is a fun time with a good message that doesn’t beat you over the head.

Central Intelligence is rated PG-13 for violence and harsh language. On my “Hollywood Popcorn Scale” I rate it a LARGE.

Hollywood Hernandez