blank
search-icon

‘Beasts of No Nation’ Review: Captivating Art Out of the Brutalities of War

blank

Beasts of No Nation

Director-Cary Fukunaga’s excellent presentation and tiny breakdown of Nigerian-American author Uzodinma Iweala’s 2005 novel-Beasts of No Nation into a movie with the same title brings out the odd beauty in war without undermining the intrinsic brutalities well associated with a jungle and haphazardly coordinated war—where child soldiers are the ultimate killing machines.

The film opens with young Ghanaian actor-Abraham Attah (who plays Agu) living  in a small village, which served as a buffer zone for UN peacekeepers in an unnamed country plunged  into war—but soon, the well protected village also lost its safety net.

Immediately before an attack which throws the almost peaceful village into insane panic, Agu’s mother (played by Ama K. Abebrese) and his younger sister joined the women and children of the village in a chaotic escape to a city as the men stayed behind to defend their lands.

Agu, who at this stage had connected well with viewers from the earlier few scenes which showcased him as an innocent silly young man left with nothing meaningful to do except to indulge in all manner of jokes and tricks with his friends and family because of the war was left behind—alongside his older brother and father.

A brutal attack on the village ignited the vehicle that drove the whole film. Agu’s first hand experience of the viciousness of war: the killing of his father and brother right in front of him pushed his legs to run far into the forest in search for refuge.

Soon, Agu the innocent one man refugee on the run became a member of a ferocious battalion, led by Commandant (played by Idris Elba). But this was after the film-maker had cleverly and in detail broken into particles the sort of tough trainings and spiritual initiations new intakes including Agu had to undergo—to become full family members of the battalion.

Though the film is vague about why war had broken out and the actual mission of Agu’s new family of soldiers, including several child soldiers—it makes it obvious the battalion holds no mercy and has no conscience within which it operates. It’s a deranged unit made up of unstable products of the war to kill and capture villages.

The brutalities of the war seen through Agu’s eyes, backed by his narrative put on screen: the violence, gruesome killings and the unending desire of the soldiers to fight for what seems like a blank promise founded on deceit. And in between these atrocities which Agu plays pivotal role lived his fears, the uncertainty of the future and his hunger to see his mother again.

Ama K. Abebrese in Beasts of No Nation
Ama K. Abebrese in Beasts of No Nation

Read more

Sicario Review: When Vengeance Pushes Justice Out of the Box in the War on Drugs

blank
Emily Blunt in Sicario
Emily Blunt in Sicario

If Justice means staying within the borders of the law and being accountable for your actions even when the fight is against ruthless cartels, ‘Sicario’ would come off as a thriller founded on ‘using all means’ to achieve a result, heavily motivated by vengeance—therefore a bunch of “bad” US agents taking illegitimate hit at the bad guys from Mexico.

Emily Blunt (who plays Kate) confidently steps into the movie as a lead FBI agent, specialising in the field of kidnap-victim recovery. That sounds straight forward and less harrowing but not when she leads her men to a cartel safe house—where they were plunged into total shock by their findings, made worse by a bomb blast which killed two of her men.

This opening horrendous experience sets the film on a path, defining Emily Blunt’s direction and ushering the viewer into the sort of cartels the “good guys” are up against. But who really is a good guy becomes difficult to establish as the film rolls on.

Idealist, young but tactful-Blunt and her partner were horrified by the cartel safe-house experience and when she was offered the opportunity by those who call the shot at the Homeland Security to join the direct fight against those who were responsible for the horror, it took her less than a minute to agree.

Read more

‘The Intern’ Review: A Role You Wouldn’t Think De Niro Would Ever Play

blank
De Niro and Hathaway in The Intern
De Niro and Hathaway in The Intern

Even if not for the sake of the awkward and yet refreshing role Robert De Niro plays , ‘The Intern’ is not a movie you would want to re-watch—but you wouldn’t totally hate it.

The lapses in the storyline and disconnect from the many things that would actually happen in real life in certain scenarios clearly put the movie out there as one of those forcefully meandered to achieve a specific ‘happy ending.’

From the start, ‘The Intern’ comes off as something meaningful but take De Niro out of the picture and it would come crumbling on the floor as an ordinary work and life crisis movie—this time, with a young mother of one taking in the stress while her ‘stay at home’ husband brings up with their beautiful daughter.

In ‘The Intern,’ Robert De Niro plays Ben Whittaker, a well lived 70 year old retired widower bored with the amount of time he has on his hand. His earlier escape routine of always being on the go seemed perfect until he came across an advertisement by a new local internet start-up looking for interns—and this time, it was not convention, the company wanted senior ‘citizen’ interns.

Read more

‘Legend’ Review: When A Gangster is ‘Not A Taker But A Giver’ | Tom Hardy Good Play of Two Distinct Characters in Krays Biopic

blank
The Kray brothers in Legend
The Kray brothers in Legend

In the early days of modern cinema, it was deeply amazing to have one actor play two roles in the same film—and appearing in the same scene as two different characters. Today, technology has made this perfectly possible and movie goers are no more wowed by such techniques.

But in ‘Legend’ Tom Hardy’s two watchable and somewhat distinct characters may confuse you into believing, these characters are being played by two different people—just that there is good facial resemblance.

As expected when a film is based on a true story, the critics have written out far disconnecting reviews—with the movie receiving as much as 5 stars from some reputable film critics and as low as 2 stars from others. I am yet to see a star but the varying in the praise points to the fact that, these critics paid attention to different elements of the film.

The film comes off as a caricature and well below our understanding of what gangsters are capable of doing; their antics and mode of operation. But considering the fact that the film was set in the 1950s, the huge disparity in the brutality of those tagged gangsters was inevitable.

Tom Hardy successfully plays Ronnie and Reggie Kray—East End London based twins who rose on the back of violence and intimidation to earn enviable street credibility and huge bank balances in the 1950s and 1960s.

Together with their gang-The Firm, the Krays were involved in armed robberies, arson, protection rackets, assaults, and the murders of Jack “The Hat” McVitie and George Cornell—the latter activities ended their freedom on the street and the former fetched them a hell lot of money and control.

Read more

‘The Transporter Refuelled’ Review: What is Transporter without Jason Statham? | Feeble Fight Scenes & Unimpressive Chases Around the French Riviera

Ed Skrein in'The Transporter Refuelled'
Ed Skrein in ‘The Transporter Refuelled’

Apart from the obvious fact that no one can perfectly fit into the black suit of cocky British actor-Jason Statham, the on-screen ‘street fighting’ prodigy was the reason why the sequel-The Transporter caged impressive international attention.

Others can say, it was a complimentary relationship, because ‘The Transporter’ shot Jason to a worldwide audience who were in desperate need for a new hero and he was the perfect catch for the job.

Therefore, the decision to go ahead with a new installment without the original master key came as a shock to many film critics—and ‘The Transporter Refuelled’ confirmed that there can never be another ‘Transporter’ without Jason Statham—unless you want to call it; ‘The Transporter Failure.’

It was not just the absence of the swaggering Jason Statham that pushed ‘ The Transporter Refuelled’ below the red lines, the storyline was far-stretched—and in most cases, unrealistic events took off just to get a fight scene up or inject a high speed chase around the French Riviera.

Newcomer-Ed Skrein spoke with the same Jason Statham pace and fought at near speed but these were not enough, the Jason persona was missing and it was all over the movie. The high speed chases came off good, well placed ‘Fast and Furious’ stunts but the man behind the wheel still had question marks all over his forehead.

Read more

‘When Love Happens’ Review: When the Search for Love Becomes A ‘Cosmic Joke’ | A Contemporary Nollywood RomCom that Elicits Genuine Laughter

SassyChic and Chris-Vincent Agyapong Febiri at'When Love Happens Premiere'
SassyChic and Chris-Vincent Agyapong Febiri at ‘When Love Happens’ Premiere in London

Last night at the Greenwich Odeon Cinema in London, ‘When Love Happens’ received a grand premiere—and it has also been released in selected UK cinemas for further showings…

The film which joins the path of the new emerging crop of well produced and packaged Nollywood movies, capable of taking slots in the big UK cinemas repeatedly sent the audience into the enchanting chamber of laugher; unforced and unpredicted.

My co-critic and fiancée-SassyChic who is not a fan of loud cinema outburst of laughter couldn’t hold hers—even though that was the second time we were seeing the movie. Such is the unadulterated comedy—in action and in words that the movie serves.

It’s a perfect RomCom with a well balanced audience reaction; the ‘Awwws’ that exude the fact that romance was at play were frequently doled out with genuine giggles and laughter—the exact reaction RomCom’s ought to invoke, even with mixed audience.

Directed by Seyi Babatope, the movie sets off with Moduroti Bankole –Smith (played by Weruche Opia), a 28 year old woman whose conventional hunt for love was pushed to new forms by the impending wedding of a friend.

Outside the pressures and constant reminders that she has not found love in a long time caused by the fact that she was an event planner hired to be in charge of her snobby friend’s wedding, Mo lived in a home where fairytale love somewhat surprisingly existed.

Mo’s parents who were madly in love as if they had just met couldn’t stop nudging her to find someone and despite the many men on the streets of Lagos, Mo bought into the advice of trying online dating—after all, the conventional modes couldn’t fetch her a thing.

Read more

‘Guy Guy’ Episode Four Preview: Kalybos’ The Ghost Player In New Black Star Captain

Kalybos in'Guy Guy'
Kalybos in ‘Guy Guy’

After its best episode yet with the Kofi Wayo inspired third episode, this week’s ‘Guy Guy’ has a lot to live up to with the season debuts of Stonebwoy and Countryman Songo…

Even the greatest shows of all time have their worst moments. Those are the moments where fans have to strain hard to remember why they love the show so damn well in the first place. It occurs for most shows a few times a season and is an inevitable by-product of having to live up to the craziest standards imaginable week after week.

Read more

‘Hitman: Agent 47’ Review | A Superficial Movie with Guns All Over

Rupert Friend in'Hitman-Agent 47'
Rupert Friend in ‘Hitman-Agent 47’

Rupert Friend takes centre stage in ‘Hitman: Agent 47’ as a rogue product of a discontinued secret military programme which was set up to specifically create human killing machines.

Called Agent 47, Rupert Friend was not just trained to kill but created for this—and even with eyes closed, he could kill hundreds from afar without being hit by a single bullet. What else do you expect from a movie inspired by a video-game?

With a bar code stamped on the back of his skull which also carries his agent number, Agent 47 sets off to hunt down Katia Van Dees (played by Hannah Ware), a young woman with hyper-sensitive survival skills made possible by his father—the same missing man she was trying track down.

As Agent 47 moves in on Katia Van Dees, he comes off as the villain until John Smith (played by Zachary Quinto) steps in—a different agent who initially claimed he was sent to protect Katia from Agent 47.

But things turned around when it became obvious that, John Smith was looking to capture Katia’s missing doctor father—to get the doctor to help his agency revive the agent programme.

Just like the audience, Katia nearly believed John Smith was her protector and the good guy—until Agent 47 landed his chest with several bullets. And when Katia and everyone thought John Smith was dead, things took a different turn—and the true pursuit began.

Agent 47 has been programmed not to feel “pain, fear and even love” but as the film rolled in with more gun shots, it somewhat becomes obvious that, though programmed, Agents could hold onto such feelings.

Read more

‘Guy Guy’ Episode Three Preview: Kofi Wayo Steals The Show As He Drops 1,001 Truth Bombs

Guy Guy-GC
Guy Guy-GC

After a one week break to accommodate the Ghana Journalists Association Awards Night, your no.1 contemporary comedy show ‘Guy Guy’ returns this weekend with its most explosive episode yet.

I have honestly had a blast since I started reviewing ‘Guy Guy’. It’s funny without being too silly, star studded which I always like to mention; but mostly I just like it because it is a Ghanaian production I can watch without throwing up and which makes for a nice thirty minute break from a hectic time in the office.

Read more

‘Vacation’ Review: Slightly Amusing With the ‘Conventional’ Foul Language and Inappropriate Antics

Steele Stebbins, Skyler Gisondo, Christina Applegate and Ed Helms in Vacation
Steele Stebbins, Skyler Gisondo, Christina Applegate and Ed Helms in Vacation

Increasingly, the big screens are being filled with less thought-provoking movies these days—as more offensive words and antics lead in the world of mainstream cinema.

And even though ‘Vacation’ was not as foul as TED 2 to my co-reviewer and conservative fiancée, you can pigeonhole it as terribly offensive and less humorous as it had a central child throwing out many swear words throughout the movie.

Perhaps, modern comedy has gotten to the stage where you cannot do without foul language and certain inappropriate antics—and film makers seem to be wrongly interchanging wit for insolent.

Off the back of Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo infamous decision to take their family across the US to “America’s Favourite Family Fun Park” in National Lampoon’s Vacation, Ed Helms (who plays Rusty, a domestic flight pilot), now a middle aged son of Chevy decides to give his wife and two children that ‘wonderful’ experience in ‘Vacation’.

Married to hanging-in-there-Debbie ( played by Christina Applegate), Rusty managed to convince Debbie and his two sons James (played by Skyler Gisondo) and Kevin (played by Steele Stebbins) to go on a family road trip to Walley World theme park—promising them a wonderful experience just as he had with his parents when he was young.

It’s this long road trip to Walley World theme park that puts the film on it wheels—the family conversations were every so often funny but if you have a problem with a child being unable to construct a full sentence without swearing, then surely you wouldn’t even find the family chats amusing.

James, the younger brother of Kevin kept throwing out words far inappropriate for his age—and he couldn’t stop terrorizing the calm Kevin until latter part of the movie when he was taught a little lesson.

James’ reoccurring foul language which sometimes were met with similar ‘jabs’ from his parents would have maintained their comedy punch lines if they were infrequent, a little more controlled. But the fact that almost each sentence had it was a push beyond the border.

Read more

‘Guy Guy’ Episode Two Preview: ‘Learn From Kalybos How To Get A Celebrity’s Number’

After a blockbuster pilot that I’m sure by now has hooked many people, ‘Guy Guy’ returns with another solid episode as it begins its 13 week mission to steal the heart and soul of Ghanaians… Building a cult following is important for the survival of any television series in this day and age of a … Read more

‘Guy Guy’ Series Premiere Preview: The Eccentric Genius And The Inept Rapper in ‘Best Rapper Alive’

Guy Guy-GC
Guy Guy-GC

It is coming soon, and it is coming big; it is the series premiere of the next big thing to hit the big screen in Ghana- ‘Guy Guy’.

The brainchild of talented artist 2Ras, this is a show guaranteed to blow the minds of a Ghanaian public a little too comfortable with mediocrity. Well acted, well directed, star studded, the show is as ‘guy guy’ as its title holds.

The premiere episode ‘Best Rapper Alive’ is set to air on Saturday, August 8 on GTV. A premiere must always be one of the best episodes of any given show, as it acts as the first crumb thrown into the sea to hook the fish, and so it should be a particularly juicy crumb.

‘Guy Guy’ has a lot working for it before it even airs, the cast of characters which is a highlight reel of a ‘who is who’ in Ghana showbiz, and its head character Kalybos, is probably the hottest commodity in Ghana these days. Still, the pilot meets expectations in many ways.

Read more

Star Studded New TV Series: ‘Guy Guy’ Set To Hit Your Screens And Split Your Sides Soon

Guy Guy-GC
Guy Guy-GC

The debate over the soon to be implemented TV license fee brings into sharp relief one of the biggest problems with broadcasting in Ghana which we often sweep under the carpet– the largely dross programming Ghanaians have to deal with.

The argument largely, which I agree with, is that shoveling the money of Ghanaians into the hands of these people gives us no guarantee of improved programming.

Luckily, there is a programme on the horizon that would, in the short term at least, brightly improve the landscape on GTV, who we can all agree does not have the brightest of landscapes. ‘Guy Guy’ is the new star studded, hilarious, and pseudo real world show on the horizon that is guaranteed to brighten your day.

Read more

Review of Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation | Another Tom Cruise Action Adventure

Mission Impossible-Rogue Nation1
Rebecca Ferguson and Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation

 

Tom Cruise has returned for the fifth time with another Mission: Impossible movie’; ‘Rogue Nation’ as Ethan Hunt —an action thriller majorly set in London.

This time, the Mission: Impossible franchise which has been running for almost 20 years places 53-year old-Tom Cruise in the middle of a thought-of British Intelligence secret organisation turned a terrorist group called ‘The Syndicate.’

Even if Tom Cruise’s admirable six packs and physiques do not make you forget his age, the excellent action stunts he pulls off by himself would blow your mind. From hanging to a taking off plane to riding a motor bike with no helmet at a top speed in Casablanca, Morocco—‘Rogue Nation’ once again reminds us that, Mission: Impossible is perhaps the only franchise which comes a little closer to the James Bond franchise.

Made possible by Alibaba Pictures, ‘Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation’ puts the IMF agency under unexpected threat from ‘The Syndicate’, a near-mythical organization of assassins and rogue operatives run by a creepy villain-Solomon Lane (Sean Harris).

Interestingly, it was exactly when the IMF agency was under threat of extermination that the agency was dissolved, with its members- Jeremy Renner and Simon Pegg (who plays Benji Dunn ) pulled into the CIA, Ving Rhames resigning—and Tom Cruise becoming that rogue agent wanted by the CIA.

Not only does ‘Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation’ successfully battle the last James Bond movie with the super cool gadgets, fierce fighting and high speed chases, it also brings in the sexy Rebecca Ferguson (who plays Ilsa Faust), a British Intelligence Service agent whose place of loyalty remains confusing till the end of the movie.  Rebecca Ferguson sits in as some sort of a$$-kicking Bond Girl—and her kicks were swift, brutal and deadly.

The entire Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation movie can be boxed into 3 major events—-the first taking place at the Vienna State Opera where we see punches and gunshots being exchanged by 3 separate hitmen (and woman) as well as Ethan Hunt and his side-kick Benji Dunn, centered around the assassination of the Austrian Chancellor.

Read more

TED 2 Review | It’s The Usual Foul Mouth Ted & His Best Friend-Mark Wahlberg Against ‘Political Correctness’

Ted 2
Ted 2

Seth MacFarlane himself wouldn’t dare say TED 2 is anything close to his first installment when it comes to real comedy—but he surely uses TED 2 to clap back at his critics, making TED 2 seem more like a dry spoof.

Of course there wouldn’t be Ted without his best friend-John Bennett (played by Mark Wahlberg) and the two wouldn’t be such great buddies if they did not share the same insane DNA full of foul language—and enjoy the same illicit interest of smoking their brains out.

TED 2 kicks off with Ted, the talking Teddy bear wedding his girlfriend-Tami-Lynn ( played by Jessica Barth) and a marriage hoped to bring peace later turns into constant fights—and exchange of strong language. You may succeed in throwing some few foul words at TED but never expect to win; his character is a legend in that sector and he does not even spare his neighbours…

On the other hand, TED’s best friend-John Bennett is divorced from Lori Collins for six months and has lost interest in getting back into the game—having found deep solace in a new world of adult movies.  But that was short lived when TED stumbled on his thousands of collections—the two then decided to get rid of those movies, in an unexpected way.

Read more