CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE

Other than having one of the best taglines in recent memory, Central Intelligence also has two of the biggest names in the world of entertainment at its disposal; Dwayne Johnson is literally the most profitable movie star on the planet and Kevin Hart is the biggest name in comedy right now.

I haven't been a massive fan of Kevin Hart's films to date but I've been a fan of Dwayne Johnson's ever since his days as The Rock in WWE, so I was looking forward to seeing how they would play off one another in Central Intelligence. I think we could be seeing a lot more of these two together in future films because they work together so well.

Calvin Joyner (Kevin Hart) was the most popular kid at his high school, voted the most likely to succeed, who went by the nickname 'Golden Jet'. Twenty years later and Calvin is an accountant and married to his high school sweetheart, Maggie (Danielle Nicolet).

Bob Stone (Dwayne Johnson) was the overweight geek that was endlessly targeted by bullies during his high school days. Twenty years later and Bob is a lean, mean killing machine for the CIA. Reuniting through Facebook, Bob drags Calvin into a world of international espionage in order to save the world.

For a film like Central Intelligence, it's of great importance that they get two leads who are both likeable and share a chemistry that makes the film work. This is very much the case in Central Intelligence, Hart playing the straight man with Johnson taking on the role of the goofball.

We've already seen a great new double act this year with Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling in The Nice Guys and, while Hart and Johnson never reach those heights, it's very similar in the way that, like Gosling in The Nice Guys, Johnson steals the limelight from his co-star. Johnson has always had a knack for comedy and seeing him like this is just so damn entertaining.

Dawson Marshall Thurber, who directed Dodgeball and We're the Millers, continues to show that he knows his way around the genre of comedy, throwing in some action for good measure. After all, it wouldn't be a Dwayne Johnson film if there wasn't any action to be seen. There's also a little reference to something in Aaron Paul's past that you may recognise which got one of the biggest cheers in the film so, while it's almost impossible to miss, listen out for it.

I have to applaud the film for trying to send out a message about bullying and the effects it can have on victims later in life. While some of it gets lost in the ridiculousness that plays out on screen, it's a message that's done a lot more subtly than the feminism agenda Bad Neighbours 2 pushed onto us.

Central Intelligence is a comedy that doesn't try too hard to make you laugh or like the characters, a problem a lot of comedies face nowadays. However, thanks to the natural chemistry Hart and Johnson share plus the writing and direction of Thurber, Central Intelligence is a comedy that will leave you entertained, doing so with a large likability factor.

Verdict: ★★★