This is so corny. And the original has its corny moments too, but the slick direction and leads helped sell it. And I’m sorry to these folks, but none of them are a Snipes, Harrelson, or Perez. You know who was, though? Lance Reddick, the reason I watched this. This is one more reminder of how he elevated something just by being there, taken even cliche material and making it real and compelling. The two leads don’t got that in them. Especially Harlow.

And neither does the movie as a whole. The script is often painful and dated, with Kenya Barris bringing his most mediocre material not good enough for Black-ish. There are several gay panic jokes, in 2023. And the most surface level racial jokes and themes. And the need to make the characters all about basketball is such a lazy attempt to refresh the story when the basketball was just a vehicle in the original.

But for Lance Reddick? It’s still worth a watch.