Antonio Pope is the main antagonist of the 2016 action comedy film Ride Along 2, the sequel of the 2014 hit Ride Along. He is a powerful and rich drug lord in Miami and an enemy for the pair of detectives, James Payton and Ben Barber.
He was portrayed by Benjamin Bratt, who also portrayed El Macho in the Despicable Me franchise, Ernesto de la Cruz in Coco, and El Topo in Snitch.
Personality[]
As a powerful drug lord, he is a very manipulative and rich crook who uses all of his power to beat down the pair, and he is revealed to be a sociopathic criminal who likes to escape away from the pair.
Biography[]
Beginning of Things[]
The film starts in Miami on the boat of Pope himself. His hacker A.J. is going through a list on the computer. Pope calls Port Commissioner Griffin on the phone and accuses him of stealing money from him. With one of his hitmen in the room, Pope has Griffin killed in his apartment, then orders his men to find whoever stole his money.
Ben starts his detective work by trying to blend in with the locals as they search for A.J. The two of them find the hacker, and he tells them about a safe in a club that contains something important, but first they have to meet with someone there. The guys go to the club for work, but A.J. gets Ben to enjoy himself with an impromptu bachelor party. However, the man they are supposed to meet is also Pope's hitman.
Afterward, the two are met by Maya at the crime scene. The safe turned out to be empty. Before the guys can leave, James realizes a bomb was planted in his car, which goes off and destroys his car. Ben realizes he kept A.J.'s phone on him, so they find his girlfriend Tasha to get a lead on his whereabouts. Ben convinces Tasha to spill the beans when he shows her that he's been hooking up with other women and given them unique ringtones, while Tasha is left with the generic Apple ringtone. The guys locate A.J. once more and bring him in on the investigation. He reveals to the team that Pope is the real crook, despite him having a public image as an entrepreneur working alongside the new port commissioner Nunez. Despite getting shot, Alonso backs up A.J.'s word that Pope is a crook.
James, Ben, and Maya go to a party hosted by Pope in his mansion. Maya distracts Pope by dancing with him while James and Ben gather info, and A.J. is their eyes and ears. Ben gets attacked by an alligator in the backyard. They get their information, but Pope catches them and knows they're cops, though he lets them go. The team uses their information to locate a group of shipping trucks that may be carrying Pope's contraband. However, when they attempt to stop the trucks at the port, they discover that the trucks are empty. Hernandez scolds the team, as Pope shows up and acts angry for what the team did.
The Final Showdown and Downfall[]
The team goes to a bar to think about what they did wrong. Maya then questions as to why Nunez would have shown up so fast at the port. A.J. mentions that Nunez's name was on a list of guys on Pope's payroll. James realizes that Pope knew he would have gotten caught, so he had a decoy in the trucks, and the real contraband items are being brought in somewhere else in the port. James, Maya, and A.J. go after Pope, but Maya handcuffs Ben to a pole after James says he wants Ben to stay so he can take care of Angela. However, Ben breaks free and goes to Alonso's house to get the cuffs off. James, Maya, and A.J. are at the port in the morning to catch Pope. They have a shootout with Pope and his goons, when Ben arrives and moves a truck to knock over a container with flammable barrels, causing them to explode. Pope runs and grabs A.J., then tries fleeing in a truck. James goes after him, but Ben knocks a container into Pope's path, causing him to crash. James runs to the truck and doesn't find Pope. Pope tries to shoot James, but Ben jumps in the way and takes the bullet. James shoots Pope a few times to bring him down, then sees that Ben was wearing a vest. Pope rises and shoots again, but James uses Ben as a human shield, and Maya shoots Pope once more for good measure ultimately killing him. James and Ben are off the hook for taking down Pope and Nunez together.