Central Intelligence

Regular readers of this blog would know by now that I have much love for Kevin Hart and I am a sucker for his movies but I have to admit that in this movie, The Rock was the bomb. The versatility of The Rock was proven once again and at this rate, might just rock the Oscar someday. (Just did a quick check to be sure he doesn’t have one already. lol.)

The opening credits started with music from the nineties to ease you into the era being portrayed and the makeup and computer props did an amazing job by showing us what The Rock and Kevin Hart might have looked like twenty years ago and emphasis on the word “might”, as The Rock was a fat -really fat -kid.

This more or less sets the tone of the movie as the movie showed the different life paths of both characters as Calvin Joyner (Kevin) was a high school star but ended up twenty years along the line with a boring accounting job and dissatisfied with life in general while Bob Stone (Rock) grew up to be the muscle bound star we know him as today, but better still in this movie, has an exciting life as a CIA agent. The Rock gets into trouble and has no one to turn to but Kevin who helped him in high school when no one else would.

The acting and chemistry between Kevin and The Rock was brilliant. Kevin toned down his usual shenanigans to accommodate The Rock and also to depict the disillusioned Calvin Joyner and in so doing got his character brilliantly. The Rock played his role with a depth of vulnerability that made him totally believable with occasional flash backs to his teenage years to reveal the source of his inferiority complex. Readers who have seen the movie “Get Smart” or “Pain and Gain” would attest to the fact that The Rock is a brilliant actor and not just an action star. There were also brilliant cameos from Aaron Paul, Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman.

The humor, action scenes and plot makes me give this movie a four star rating. 4/5.