Ride Along 2 - D

Rated PG-13, 101 minutes

Kevin Hart and Ice Cube

The generic, by-the-numbers buddy cop comedy "Ride Along 2" is so recycled, it makes you wonder what decade its in. It doesn't help that the Kevin Hart-Ice Cube movie, a Tim Story-directed sequel to the inexplicably 2014 big hit "Ride Along," is about 95% unfunny, and the Hart-Cube charms wear thin after a few minutes. Ben Barber (Hart) graduates from the police academy and is now a full fledged Atlanta P.D. cop, and wants to make it as a detective. James (Cube), Ben's soon to be brother-in-law, is still annoyed by his tactics. Before Ben is able to marry James's sister, Angela (Tika Sumpter), they're assigned a case in Miami, where they will be working with the Miami Police Department in order to bring down a powerful drug lord named Antonio Pope (Benjamin Bratt). Much like the first film, "Ride Along 2" is filled with loads of energy, bullets, and Kevin Hart screaming his lines to somehow make it funnier, yet little of the predictable, cut-and-paste script makes sense, though admittedly simple to write. Cube gets mad. Hart screams and runs. Cube shoots some bullets. Hart screams and runs more, Cube gets mad again and shoots more bullets. This formula somehow worked enough to make films like "Lethal Weapon" very popular in the '80s and '90s, not to mention making the first "Ride Along" film a huge hit, and "Ride Along 2" wears and tears through the formula more, adding the mildly funny yet ubiquitous Ken Jeong and the lovely Olivia Munn to round out the cast, though they're not strong enough to make the material better. Here's Hart screaming on skis. Here he is screaming and running from an alligator, and here he is screaming and driving a forklift and a Jaguar, and what exactly does all this have to do with an evil drug lord? If you like standard issue, tiresome buddy cop movies and want to kill some time, then feel free to waste it on "Ride Along 2," a ride that is anything but satisfactory.