Central Intelligence (2016)

Central Intelligence (2016)

6/10

Starring

Dwayne Johnson

Kevin Hart

Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber

I’m not much of a Kevin Hart fan, but this was a funny movie, and you’ll totally enjoy the buddy love—#bromance—that exists between Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Kevin Hart.

What I liked most is the twist of events, where Dwayne, the 6ft+ handsome man, plays a role where he worships the high school award-winning homecoming king, Kevin Hart. Normally, this situation would be reversed because, standing side by side, you’d expect them to play each other’s roles. But this movie did a mash-up that worked perfectly.

Central Intelligence is an action-comedy about two high school classmates who team up to save the world. What keeps you glued is how much Dwayne Johnson’s character, Robbie Weirdicht (aka Bob Stone), adores Calvin Joyner (Kevin Hart).

For me, seeing The Rock step out of his usual cool, ass-kicking tough guy role to play a total goofball who worships his high school hero is awesome. The fun gets even better when you find out that Bob Stone is actually a top CIA operative trying to save the world from a terrorist named the Black Badger.

The movie kicks off when Calvin gets a Facebook friend request from a Bob Stone. He accepts it, only to find out that Bob Stone is actually Robbie Weirdicht, the fat kid from high school who, ten years ago, was stripped naked and tossed into the gym during a pep rally. Calvin was the only person at the rally who helped Robbie escape with what little dignity he had left.

They decide to meet up, with Calvin not believing that Robbie has lost weight and is now all buff. He also notices that Bob has a bit of a crush on him, which makes him uncomfortable at first. But after Bob takes down four guys at a bar who were trying to bully Calvin, Calvin starts to feel more at ease with Bob.

That night, Bob asks Calvin for a favor to help him track down some account numbers. After doing so, Bob asks if he can spend the night. The next morning, CIA agents show up at Calvin’s house, and Bob miraculously vanishes without a trace, leaving Calvin to answer questions about his whereabouts.

Calvin soon discovers that Bob is a CIA agent on the run. The CIA believes he’s gone rogue and is trying to sell encryption codes to take over satellites orbiting the Earth.

Calvin agrees to help the CIA but is cornered by Bob, who claims he’s innocent and needs to catch the real culprit to clear his name and save the world. Calvin is now stuck between the two, not wanting to be part of anything that’s going on but unable to escape it.

The whole movie is a fun ride, one you’ll totally enjoy.