Kevin Hart and Ice Cube’s Divisive 2010s Comedy and Its Even Worse Sequel Are Streaming on Hulu

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Those movies are Ride Along and Ride Along 2, and they’ve been available on Hulu since November 1st. The two films star Hart as new police academy recruit Ben Barber and Ice Cube as James Payton, his future brother-in-law and a veteran police officer. In the two films, directed by Tim Story, Hart’s character hilariously tries to prove that he’s not only worthy of joining the force but also worthy of marrying Ben’s sister.

Kevin Hart and Ice Cube Are the Best Part of the Ride Along Series

You won’t see Ride Along or its sequel making many “best of” lists. The movies are mostly just mediocre and neither earned a fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes – the first holds a dreadful 18% critic score and a substantially higher, but still rotten, 58% audience rating, and Ride Along 2 performed even worse with a 15% critic score and 48% audience rating. The movies are both unoriginal and uninspired in their script and action sequences, but the comedic dynamic between Hart and Ice Cube is undeniable, even if the films recycle buddy-cop clichés.

The high-energy personality of Hart’s character plays off of Ice Cube’s more serious and deadpan delivery, creating the comedic friction the movie needs. The contrasting personalities make them a great comedy duo and a winning combination for both movies, making them watchable despite the weak script and leading to those higher audience ratings and solid popcorn films.

Ride Along and Ride Along 2 were both major commercial successes, grossing a respective $154 million and $124 million, and there has been chatter of a third movie. Ride Along 3 was reported to be in “early development” all the way back in 2016, but there’s been little progress since. In 2023, Ice Cube told Entertainment Tonight, “We’ve been talking a little bit on Ride Along 3, we haven’t locked in on the right concept and the right place to take the franchise…We need to do it, and it needs to be a standalone movie that works. So, we’re gonna work it out.”

What’s New on Hulu?

Ride Along and Ride Along 2 arrived on Hulu at the start of the month alongside dozens of other great titles. Now streaming on Hulu are films like 13 Going On 30, The Last Duel, Love Actually, The Sound Of Music (1965), Labyrinth, and Osiris. Hulu is set to bring even more titles to streaming in December, with Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, the Home Alone franchise, and Straight Outta Compton all set to start streaming on December 1st.