RATED: Central Intelligence is M for violence, sexual references, and coarse language
AUDIENCE: Do you enjoy bromances (movies like Wedding Crashers or I Love You, Man) or buddy cop comedies from the 1980s? Central Intelligence is, basically, a combination of those two things.
WHAT’S GOOD: Dwayne Johnson is best known for being a wrestler and an action-movie star. But he’s a really funny bloke, whose performance in Central Intelligence is one of the best comedy turns in yonks. He’s sympathetic, believable and daggy as a super-spy with issues. While this bromance buddy movie isn’t anything terribly new or amazing, Johnson is enough reason to check it out. But there is also the underlying plot about the impact and consequences of bullying children – which is a worthy subject to raise in a mainstream movie.
WHAT’S NOT: Kevin Hart struggles to match the presence and timing of his co-star, Johnson. Several cool cameos show up throughout Central Intelligence (Aaron Paul, Jason Bateman, Amy Ryan), but you will want to see much more of them. The action on-screen is uninspired and predictable, and the plot gets sillier as it goes along. While there isn’t as much swearing or smutty talk as most adult comedies, both do show up throughout.
SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING: A strong undercurrent in Central Intelligence is the lifelong impact of bullying upon people. Although the film’s finale presents an anti-bullying message in terms that even primary-school kids would find childish, how great it is that a mainstream Hollywood comedy has a go at bullying. One scene stood out to me, where a character describes how God has broken into their life and helped them see how the bullying they did was terrible. This character explains how life has meaning and purpose and, sometimes, you have to ask people to forgive you for the wrongs you have done to them. Why? Because the forgiveness God offers to us should drive us, for the wrongs we have done. Whether it is bullying or some other terrible thing, turning away from and stopping such behaviour is possible. With God.
RELEASE DATE: Now Showing
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