Central Intelligence Movie Review (Spoiler Free)

The Rock is emotional, though he plays it cool, while Hart goes wild. Unfortunately, trading places cannot trade up this trash. This comedy has no central intelligence. 

Genre: Action / Comedy

Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber

Cast: Kevin Hart, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Danielle Nicholet, Amy Ryan, Jason Bateman, Aaron Paul, Tim Griffin, Timothy John Smith, Thomas Kretschmann & Ryan Hansen.

Run Time: 107 min.

US Release: 17 June 2016

UK Release: 29 June 2016

German Release: 16 June 2016

Apologies for the late post, but I started a new job, which is taking up a lot of my time to get into. As such, some of my reviews will be delayed, and I won't be posting as many as last month, due to time restrictions. With that out of the way, let me get to my review of the newest The Rock funny flick, which also stars Kevin Hart, one of my least favourite comedians, in a leading role. This is exactly what I expected: a dumb mess of a picture that doesn’t know what type of comedy it wants to be. To make matters worse, it also completely fails to incorporate a serious subject. So let us talk about Central Intelligence. 

The story revolves around Calvin Joyner (Hart), a friendly, harmless accountant, who reconnects with an old school acquaintance who was bullied on Facebook. Soon Calvin finds himself entangled in the world of international espionage, as Bob Stone (The Rock) is trying to clear his name. In the meantime, his private life starts falling apart.

Structurally, the script is a total mess. Writers Barinholz and Stassen don’t seem to know if they want to write a buddy comedy, a high-school reunion spoof or an action-filled spy parody. Everything is thrown into one pot, yet the movie fails to successfully commit to any of these subgenres. There is also a big issue with the core message regarding high school bullying and its long-term effects; unfortunately, the narrative lays it on so thick that it loses all meaning. To top it off, the third act crumbles to a generic action piece with clichéd villains plus shootouts.

That said, the film is not a complete dumpster fire, containing a few entertaining elements. Specifically, the central relationship between Bob Stone and Calvin Joyner is incredibly entertaining. Even though Bob often abuses Calvin’s trust, their back-and-forths still managed to make me smirk. Finally, Bob’s climax speech at the reunion, focusing on self-acceptance and being one’s own hero, stands out as an emotional and special moment.

Unfortunately, apart from that final speech, most of the dialogue is completely predictable. It relies entirely on repeating screaming, yelling, as well as cursing in the light of panic. Verbal jokes mostly fall flat, while the banter between the leads ends up feeling more toxic than humorous.

When it comes to performances, most of them really clash with the written description of the roles. First off, Kevin Hart and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson have impeccable comedic chemistry. Both actors collaborate well together, drawing some genuine laughter. Unfortunately, their personas are displayed as generic clichés, with repetitive gags. Calvin is constantly half-screaming while fast-talking in panic. Bob is generally too naive to be a successful CIA agent. 

Having said that, it also includes some solid female roles played by Amy Ryan, as CIA agent Pamela Harris, who is on the hunt for Bob Stone, convinced of his guilt. Danielle Nicholet portrays Maggie, Calvin’s wife and the heart of that relationship. She supports her husband as best as she can, while Calvin himself is going through a sort of midlife crisis. That said, just as the two leads, they are written extremely shallowly and predictably. 

Big names Jason Bateman and Aaron Paul have also been cast in some minor roles, though their talents are completely wasted, as they have barely any screen time. Bateman gives a solid, despicable rendition as the school bully, yet only gets a max of 3 minutes on film. Paul, on the other hand, has even less, only appearing mostly in flashbacks.

The cinematography plus camera work are among the better half of this comedy. While the picture is clearly digital, its vibrant colours as well as bright lightning, matches perfectly the humorous voice of the two leads. The visual composition does use creative shots plus angles, though it becomes a little messy during action segments. Sadly, the same can’t be said about the VFX; while practical effects are well integrated, the computer-generated imagery, such as the de-ageing effects or face-replacement during the opening scene, does stand out like a sore thumb. 

Audio-wise, the movie suffers from poor balance between the dialogue volume and background sound effects. The score is lazy, reusing nostalgic pop or hip-hop beats throughout its length. 

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Verdict: In all honesty, I don’t know where all these positive reviews came from. Critics praised the character-based comedy, which I personally don’t see much of. I agree that the leads have undeniable chemistry that I enjoyed seeing on screen; however, it stuffs so many subgenres that meaning gets lost. Then there is the praise for its emotional themes, though again, I felt nothing, because its core message was so on the nose; I got tired of it after it came up for the tenth time halfway through. That said, Johnson’s final speech as Bob is inspiring. The best part of this slapstick flick is the camera work, with its clean visuals and strong colours. Even the practical effects used during action scenes are praiseworthy. But the same can’t be said of the CGI. In the end, Central Intelligence has a solid framework, as well as two good leads that play well off each other, though all of that gets buried under a messy, terrible script. It gets a 4.5 out of 10.

Do you agree with my opinion, or are you with the majority on this & enjoyed this comedy? Leave a comment below to let me know & thank you for reading.