Here comes another buddy cop film, this time with Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart in the lead roles. The film does not look silly for the wise decision of making it into a comedy and it sparks thanks to the strong rapport between Johnson and Hart. It is not really funny, basically there is no one good laugh in the whole movie. But, there are many somewhat funny situations/lines, like when Rock and his little partner jump out the window onto a big balloon-monkey. It is not really fun, but, it is engaging enough to not be boring or just plain bad. The Rock kicks some but, but in a <more> mostly-believable way and not too much. Acting is not really good, it's mostly over-acting, but, both the Rock and his little partner don't "overdo over-acting", so to speak. Again, it's a comedy, over-acting is somewhat expected. So there are a lot of better movies, but, this one satisfies the minimum quality bar. This movie is not good or bad. This movie starting is from the past 20 years ago. In 1996, extremely popular student and star athlete Calvin Joyner Kevin Hart is being honored at his high school's senior pep rally. His obese classmate Robbie Wheirdicht Dwayne Johnson is being bullied by a student named Trevor Jason Bateman while showering in the boys' locker room. Robbie is thrown into the gym naked by Trevor and his friends just as Calvin is receiving his award, and everyone erupts in laughter except for Calvin and his girlfriend Maggie Danielle Nicolet . Calvin takes off his varsity jacket and gives it to Robbie, who covers himself up, thanks Calvin, and runs away in embarrassment. 20 years later, Calvin is married to Maggie and works as an accountant. He is dissatisfied with his career. He want to be back at high school. One day, Calvin receives a friend request on Facebook from a man named Bob Stone, who reveals that he is Robbie and requests that they meet at a bar. Calvin is shocked to see that Robbie has transformed into a tall, muscular, confident man. Robbie easily defeats a group of four men that try to bully them. As Bob drops Calvin off at his house, he asks Calvin to review a few accounting records, saying he has payroll issues. Calvin deciphers the records as multi-million dollar transactions from an auction, with the final payment set to be made the following day. Bob avoids Calvin's questions and ends up spending the night on his couch. The next morning, a group of CIA agents led by Pamela "Pam" Harris Amy Ryan arrive at Calvin's house in search of Bob, who escapes after erasing all evidence of his presence. Pam warns Calvin that Bob is a dangerous rogue agent who has the intention of selling satellite codes to the highest bidder. As the CIA agents follow Calvin to his office, Bob successfully abducts Calvin and explains that he is trying to stop a criminal known as the Black Badger from selling the satellite codes, but needs Calvin's skills as a forensic accountant to find the coordinates of the deal's location. However, Calvin did not believe in Bob. Calvin flees and calls Maggie, telling her to meet him at the marriage counselor's office. Pam intercepts him and informs him that Bob murdered his own partner Phil Aaron Paul and is the Black Badger himself. She warns him to refrain from telling Maggie and gives him a device to alert them to Bob's location. Bob met Calvin in building again. Bob convinces Calvin to help him. As they leave the building, Pam calls Calvin and threatens to arrest Maggie if he fails to help them detain Bob. Calvin is forced to betray Bob and the CIA arrests him. Calvin feels guilty and decides to help Bob. The two manage to escape successfully. They steal an airplane and fly to Boston where they can deal with Black Badger. At a park in Boston, Calvin guesses that the deal must be happening in an underground parking garage. Bob tells Calvin to stay outside and enters the garage alone. However, when he sees Pam entering the garage a short while later, Calvin mistakenly assumes that she is the Black Badger and runs after her. He finds Bob meeting with the buyer and claiming to be the Black Badger. Phil arrives, revealing that he is alive, and claims that he is the real Black Badger. The buyer attempts to retrieve codes from both Bob and Phil, but the CIA arrives and a shootout begins, while Calvin grabs both codes and runs outside. He encounters Bob and Phil, who engage in combat. Unable to decide who is the criminal, Calvin aims blindly and shoots Bob, allowing Phil to knock him out. Phil then confesses to being the Black Badger and reveals that Bob is innocent. Before Phil can kill Calvin, he causes a distraction and allows Bob to rip Phil's throat out, killing him. The two deliver the codes to Pam, who then drops them off to their high school reunion. Trevor attempts to bully Bob again, but Bob knocks him out with one punch. As Bob delivers his speech, he relives his most embarrassing high-school moment and takes off all his clothes confidently. He walks off stage to unite with his high school crush Darla and they share a kiss. During the ending credits, Maggie is revealed to be pregnant and Calvin has joined the CIA. As a gift for his first day, Bob returns to Calvin his varsity jacket from high school. <less> |