“Wa-Whaaaat?” Thoughts on Central Intelligence

Central Intelligence (2016)

Directed By: Rawson Marshall Thurber

I’ve been meaning to watch Central Intelligence for a while and I finally got the chance this week. Kevin Hart is a funny and entertaining comedian and that’s mainly why I wanted to watch it.

In 1996, Calvin Joyner (Kevin Hart)—also known as “The Golden Jet”— was giving his acceptance speech for an award at his high school’s gymnasium, but was interrupted when Robbie Wheirdicht (Dwayne Johnson) is thrown into the gym, butt-naked, and became the laughing stock of the entire school. Rather than laughing at him, Calvin gives Robbie his lettermen’s jacket to shield himself as he runs away from embarrassment.

Twenty years later, Calvin and Robbie, now known as Bob Stone, reunite. A CIA Agent gone rogue, Bob forces Calvin to help him stop the Black Badger from selling satellite codes in the Black Market.

Initially, I thought that Dwayne Johnson would act all tough and mature like how I usually see him in most action movie roles, but I was wrong.  I didn’t expect him to act like a big goofball that loves unicorns and puppies. He also had some signature moves in this movie such as his fanny pack that he constantly wears and his catchphrase, “Wa-Whaat?!” (which I’m currently saying all the time to my sister now). Aside from his cutesiness, Bob Stone has some personal scars he must overcome: getting over the bullies that tortured him in high school.

Likewise, the character Calvin has a difficult time accepting who he is now. While in high school, he had so much charisma and people expected him to do “great” things, but soon after he left for college, he fell under the radar and reality settled in—he ends up working as an accountant at a boring company that has a gorilla balloon out in the front of the building and he hates his coworkers. Calvin thinks his whole life is a failure, which makes him feel insecure about himself and it puts a strain on his marriage. He also doesn’t want to go to his high school reunion because he feels that he didn’t meet everyone’s expectations.

Calvin and Bob’s bromance is pretty hilarious. Bob looks like a scary intimidating person, but he’s actually a soft-hearted guy that just wants to be best buds with Calvin Joyner, his only friend. Although Bob considers them friends, Calvin thinks otherwise: Calvin wants to get rid of Bob because he thinks Bob is a fugitive, but Bob is like a tic that you can’t get rid of. To show Bob’s attachment to Calvin, the camera would cut to Bob in a scene where he wasn’t there in the first place as if he pops up out of nowhere. These pop-ups of Bob became an important part of the movie as it shows Bob’s fondness of Calvin.

Central Intelligence‘s overall moral is that we should be comfortable with who we are, whatever that may be. It’s a movie about friendship and being true to yourself. The action wasn’t as exciting in comparison to other action films, but it does have great comedy. I wouldn’t watch this one in theaters, just wait until it goes on TV or Netflix. Yet, it would be awesome to see these two actors again in another movie. They have good chemistry.

3/5