August 2016

Revue of MECHANIC: RESURRECTION

Release Date: August 26, 2016

Genre: Action/Thriller

Directed By: Dennis Gansel

So that’s how Bishop (Jason Statham) was just chilling with his babe Gina (Jessica Alba) when Crain (Sam Hazeldine) sends his goons to kidnap her and to secure her release, Bishop must take out three targets. Expectedly, Crain goes back on his word and Bishop comes for him.

If you are a fan of fast paced butt kicking and shooting, this is definitely the movie for you. The plot was clichéd but the action sequences made up for that. Statham fans never go to see his movie to see his acting, because that will be like watching Porn for the plot, rather we just go to see him break peoples necks and shoot the crap out of people.

My favorite part was when one of Statham’s targets fell out of his sky pool. I totally liked that scene. Meanwhile, I am not sure the impact Michelle Yeoh and Tommy Lee Jones were supposed to bring into this movie. I guess it’s just to increase the profile of the movie because the movie could have gone just fine without them because their roles were quite insignificant.

One other curious thing though, for a movie titled "Mechanic" there was absolutely NOTHING about cars, not even a little car chase or sumtin.

Oh, by the way, there was this African guy in the movie with a serious Nigerian way of talking; he was funny…and creepy with all his juju paraphernalia.

Statham is one of the best action movies stars at the moment and as usual, he does what he knows how to do best and that is, killing people. The plot was pretty patchy but the action was worth watching. It’s for these reasons that MECHANIC: RESURRECTION gets a 5.8/10 rating on my awesome-o-metre.

Make sure you bookmark this page and visit us every day for new stuff. While you are at it, let’s hook up on social media on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram make sure you follow me and tag a friend.

Wait, it’s just Tuesday? I need the weekend to get here real quick.

Take care.

The Maveriq

Revue of MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES

Release Date: July 7, 2016

Genre: Romance/Comedy

Directed By: Jake Szymanski

Dave (Zav Efron) and Mike (Adam DeVine) are two unruly brothers with a penchant for ruining special family gatherings who in an attempt to curb their wild tendencies are mandated by their father to each bring respectable dates to their sister’s Hawaiian wedding. The brothers place an ad on Craig’s list (of all places) for prospective dates and settle for Alice and Tatiana (Anna Kendrick & Aubrey Plaza), two seemingly decent waitresses. However, at the wedding, the ladies are not exactly the tame ladies the brothers anticipated.

The critics have already begun to bash this movie in, but I am not with them on this. Zac and Adam seem to be coming into their own and this is another funny performance. Even though the guys were both at their raunchy best, but their dates totally stole the show. The girls totally conned the guys into thinking they were nice chicks but just a few seconds into the wedding and BOOM, their true selves come out and it was hilarious.

However, I am worried that in his recent movies like Dirty Grand Pa and Bad Neighbors, Zack is beginning to stereotype and box himself into the party animal mold. We all know how difficult it is to get out of a mold in Hollywood, so I think it’s time he tried his hands in another kind of role because he does have much more to offer.

Other than the ridiculously long title, MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES is a funny gig and makes for good fun and earns it 6.5/ 10 on my awesome-o-meter.

I am curious to hear what you think about it please leave your comments (and your twitter handle) in the comment section below and you could win a free movie ticket to see it at Genesis Cinemas. Make sure you follow @ThaRevue on Twitter who knows, you could be the winner of the free movie ticket.

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

The Maveriq

Revue of WAR DOGS

Release Date: August 19, 2016

Genre: Drama/Crime

Directed By: Todd Philips

Efraim (Jonah Hill) and David (Miles Teller) are best buddies from school but while Efraim seems to be a successful businessman, David is having a rough time with his massage business. Efraim gives David a break to join in his international arms dealing business which is booming because of the ongoing Iraqi war, but their astronomical success and greed brings with it, dire consequences.

Wow! This movie was one crazy joy ride. I truly expected a comedic movie with some sprinkling of criminal drama and that’s what I got but on a proportion that I did not expect. The movie started up with Jonah Hill (who I must say has gained soooo much weight) being his usual comic self. Miles was also fooling around but then gradually, the comedy faded away and one intense thriller began to take form. Funny enough, I was expecting a movie laced with war scenes but surprisingly for a movie with “War” in its title, there was no such scene.

The movie illuminates that during a war, there are people making a killing out of it (pun intended). We see that war is a big money spinning business where some people in the background are getting rich, while blood is being spilt. These people justify their actions by insisting that they are legitimate business men.

One thing I particularly liked was the text that was intermittently displayed to explain the next scene because these texts have a way of keeping you in suspense by giving you a clue as to how the scene is going to play out.

The movie is rated 15 but I think it’s a little too intense for a 15 year old and may have been more appropriate for a rating of 18 but maybe that’s just me.

War Dogs is an intense movie with a tinge of political undertones and makes for an entertaining watch. This earns it 7.0/ 10 on my awesome-o-meter.

The Maveriq

Revue of ANY OTHER MONDAY

Release Date: August 5, 2016

Genre: Drama

Directed By: Pascal Amanfo

This Ghana/Nigeria collabo stars Yvonne Nelson and Kunle Remi as a busy couple who have secrets that are exposed by a freak accident one blessed Monday and their lives never remain the same.

The plot of this movie sounds awesome… on paper. There are some stories that sound really great when you someone tells you of it, but that does not necessarily translate to a good movie, and this is one of those kid of movies. The plot is quite scanty and the producers were faced with the challenge of stretching a short story into a full length 80 minute movie…

Usually, movies keep their best scenes till the end but this is the first time I am seeing a movie with its best parts in the first fifteen minutes. The next hour after that was totally irrelevant and boring with no bearing on the whole movie whatsoever.

I must say that movies on the African continent are really buying into this advert/product placements that will put Michael Bay to shame. There was the not so subtle advertisement of the Huawei Ascend phone and even an advert for Kia Motors. I think we need to learn the art of subliminal marketing.

There isn’t much I have to say about the movie probably because I was basically zoning in and out only to see that the movie was still dragging. Even the sensual/erotic scenes didn’t make it any better.

Genesis Cinemas are giving away free tickets to those that leave comments (and their twitter handle) in the comment section below. Make sure you follow @ThaRevue on Twitter who knows, you could be the winner of the free movie ticket.

Have a great Monday!

The Maveriq

Revue of THE ARBITRATION

Release Date: August 12, 2016

Genre: Drama/Thriller

Directed By: Niyi Akinmolayan

Touted as Nigeria’s first real legal drama, The Arbitration stars O.C Ukeje as Gbenga, a super-rich young entrepreneur who has an affair with his star employee; Dara (Adesua Etomi) who accuses him of rape. An arbitration panel is set up to review Dara’s allegations which are threatening to ruin Gbenga’s family and his company.

I must say, the cast did an amazing job! O.C Ukeje and Adesua Etomi share a great onscreen chemistry; their flirting seemed really natural and even when they made out, it seemed really passionate. Ireti Doyle who is cast as Gbenga’s lawyer, just oozed of confidence, class and finesse but Sola Fosudo (The Arbiter) seemed rather lost and uninterested.

For once I have no complaints about the video and audio quality and the soundtrack was really cool and I particularly liked the use of the song “I Put A Spell On You” by Annie Lennox.

Special mention must be made of the editing of the movie because the transition between scenes was exquisite and classy and also the timelines seemed pretty accurate but…

I have never seen a movie drop so many names of corporate organizations- there were mentions of Diamond Bank, GT Bank and Zenith Bank. I am not sure if this was some form of marketing or advert placement but they should have toned it down a bit.

Immediately, I heard that this is a legal drama, my lawyerlyinstincts started tingling and I came to the cinema ready to pick loopholes in the plot. However, the producers, (wisely) downplayed the legal aspects so as to escape the technical legal minefield. Firstly, the producers chose an arbitration panel rather than a court of law so as to escape the technicalities that the courts will present but one rather big oversight is that criminal offences (like rape) are prosecuted by the state and Law 101 will tell you that criminal offence can never be subject of Arbitration. I guess they can be excused for enjoying the creative (poetic) license.

Other than slight legal issues here and there, The Arbitration is a smart, intelligent and witty movie and made for good entertainment. However, you shouldn’t see it with kids because there were some sensual scenes and cussing.

I really appreciate all the feedback on social media, I am really humbled. So to reward loyalty, Genesis Cinemas are giving away free tickets to those that leave comments (and their twitter handle) in the comment section below. Make sure you follow @ThaRevue on Twitter who knows, you could be the winner of the free movie ticket.

Have a great weekend guys!

The Maveriq

Revue of GET A JOB

Release Date: March 25, 2016

Genre: Comedy

Directed By: Dylan Kidd

After graduation from college, Will (Miles Teller) and his girlfriend Jillian (Anna Kendrick) along with their friends are thrown into the labor market and reality, and in their quest to get employment, they realize that real life isn’t as easy as they thought it will be.

The great thing about this movie is how humor was used to pass a message that life isn’t as easy as it seems when we set out. The truth is that many graduates these days are simply unprepared for what they meet in the real world and sometimes this may be due to over protective parenting or even a flawed educational system.

It’s weird how the strongest messages in the movie were expressed by an exotic dancer (Cameron Richardson) in a strip club while giving Will a lap dance and by a pimp (Jay Pharaoh) on his beat.

What I took away from this movie is that there isn’t a straight path to success in work life and even relationships but we must always stay prepared to seize the opportunity when it presents itself because we can never tell where or how our breakthrough will materialize.

The movie was mildly entertaining and got a few laughs so it earns 5.3/ 10on my awesome-o-meter.

Please leave your comment (and twitter handle) in the comment section below and make sure you follow @ThaRevue on Twitter who knows, you could be the winner of a free movie ticket.

Thanks for always coming around,, please come back again would you?

The Maveriq

Revue of THE DUEL

Release Date: June 24, 2016

Genre: Western/Historical

Directed By: Kieran Darcy-Smith

Set in America in the late 1880’s, Liam Hemsworth (David Kingston) is a Texas Ranger assigned to investigate a series of unexplained death in the town of Helena where Woody Harrelson (Abraham Brant) is their social and religious leader/preacher.

The movie starts off rather slowly and after 30 minutes of watching, I still cannot figure out where the story is leading. I am not kidding when I say one hour into the movie and still nothing seems to be happening. But just when I thought it was about to pick up some steam, it dives even deeper into slumber.

On the bright side, the movie did pick up in the last 15 minutes when the real gun slinging actually began. Truthfully, the whole movie could have been compressed into 30 mins and would have made for a good short movie. There were a lot of irrelevant parts of the movie which I believe were just thrown in to stretch the movie to an acceptable length.

Woody was at his best as the deceitful and witty preacher and the lesser known Hemsworth sibling also did a great job interpreting his role. I think the major flaw of the movie was in its story telling, there really wasn’t much the actors could go on.

The movie wasn’t entertaining and was one helluva drag so it earns 4.8/ 10 on my awesome-o-meter.

But if you want to come and see it at the Genesis Cinema, please leave your comment (and twitter handle) in the comment section below and make sure you follow @ThaRevue on Twitter to see if you win for being the best comment.

Ciao.

The Maveriq

Revue of SUICIDE SQUAD

Release Date: August 1st, 2016

Genre: Fantasy/Sci-Fi

Directed By: David Ayer

Finally, Suicide Squadthe long anticipated, mega hyped Clapback to Marvel has been released. The plot is about a super-secret government agency headed by Viola Davis (Amanda) who recruits a bunch of miscreants and Meta Humans held in the Belle Beve facility to fight against an other-worldly threat in exchange for clemency. The inmates include; Deadshot, Killer Croc, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, El Diablo and Slipknot who are joined by Rick Flag and Katana.

You would agree with me that this is not a particularly novel plot but Hollywood has noticed that we are getting tired of conventional super heroes and are now exploring the Bad Guy superhero angle. I am sure we all recall how old movies like Spawn and Ghost Rider where this experiment has been successful.

However, the same issues with Batman Vs Superman are also evident in Suicide Squad; where in an attempt to introduce new characters (and a franchise), too much information and characterization are mashed together. The problem with this kind of mash up is that if not properly executed, a movie could lose focus and invariably its audience. In Suicide Squad for instance, the studio attempted to show us that the Suicide Squad are bad guys with good sides, and ended up confusing audiences.

Also, there seemed to be a lot of loose ends and unexplained occurrences. You see, the problem with making a movie that involves magic/witchcraft is that producers tend to go overboard and try to resolves loose ends with magic or sorcery. Unfortunately, I am not buying this and I prefer logical resolutions.

That brings me to the raging argument if Jared Leto is a better Joker than heath Ledger. Sincerely, Jared’s performance was at best disturbing and not as entertaining as Heath’s. It was so obvious that he was trying NOT to be Heath Ledger but I don’t think we saw enough of him in this installment to make a good comparison or assessment of his portrayal of the Joker. So I will wait for the next movie where we should see him in his element.

Generally, the movie wasn’t all bad as the action scenes and sequences were splendid (but insufficient) and the acting was superb. Marrgot Robbie did an awesome job as the deranged Harley Quinn and I was also proud to see Nigeria’s own Adewale Agbaje as the Killer Croc…even though he didn’t do or say much. The deployment of Eminem’s “Guess Who’s Back” song totally got me bopping my head.

When it comes to entertainment, Suicide Squad wasn’t as fun as I expected it to be, so I am going to cautiously give it a score of 6.5/ 10 on my awesome-o-meter.

Please allow me to apologize for not posting any reviews for 2 weeks and it was because I took a small vacation away from the city to recharge a bit. But I am back now, refreshed and ready to go.

Wanna see this movie at Genesis Cinemas? leave your comment (and twitter handle) in the comments section below and make sure you follow @ThaRevue on Twitter to see if your comment wins the free ticket.

Have fun!

The Maveriq

Revue of THE BIG FRIENDLY GIANT (BFG)

Release Date: July 1st, 2015

Genre: Fantasy/Adventure

Directed By: Steven Spielberg

The adaptation of the children’s book by the renowned Roald Dahl stars Ruby Barnhill as Sophie and the voice talent of Mark Rylance as the BFG. Sophie is kidnapped by the BFG and while in his custody, she finds out that he isn’t as scary as she thought and an unlikely friendship develops and they both go on an adventure.

I recall reading this book in my schools library in secondary school and it was quite interesting and enjoyable and this movie adaptation has made me see it in a whole new (and better) light. Spielberg has again woven his magic by bringing to life this children’s classic with terrific storytelling and spectacular CGI. Most notable form me was the resounding voice talent of Rylance (who you will most recently remember from Bridge Of Spies) who made us believe in and love the big softie that is the BFG.

However, while watching the movie, I couldn’t help but notice that some scenes in the movie made the kids in the cinema rather uneasy because they were pretty scary. I recall overhearing one kid playfully say that he was definitely going to have nightmares tonight. That really got me curious because it is one thing to read a book and enjoy it and another one to see it play out in a big screen in front of you, so I guess in an attempt to accurately portray the characters, the producers may have gone a little overboard…or maybe the kid was just being overly dramatic.

Again for a movie that was meant for kids, it was pretty loooong- the movie was almost 2 hours long and about one hour into it, the kids had already started fidgeting with boredom. In truth, other than a scene where there was a farting extravaganza, there was a paucity of humor in the whole thing and we all appreciate that kids love to laugh.

Spielberg has once again shown why he is the master at what he does but I think in his quest to make a masterpiece of a movie from a classic kid’s book, he seems to have lost his target demographic- the kids. However, for a grown up like myself, I think it was a good movie and The Big Friendly Giant (BFG) earns 6.7/ 10 on my awesome-o-meter.

I am still giving out tickets courtesy Genesis Cinemas so leave your comment (and twitter handle) in the comments section below and make sure you follow @ThaRevue on Twitter.

Have fun!

The Maveriq

Revue of NEVER LET GO

Release Date: July 18, 2015

Genre: Thriller/Action

Directed By: Howard J. Ford.

Angela Dixon is Lisa, a secret agent and mother on vacation somewhere in the Middle East with her baby. While out on the beach, her baby daughter is TAKEN from here and she is forced to take matters into her own hands and use a set of skills she possesses to recover her baby.

Hmmm, something about that plot sounds familiar…oh yeah, it’s exactly the same plot as Taken, starring Liam Neeson. Some genius at the production company thought; hey guys, you see how Taken was successful and raked in a lot of cash? Why don’t we do EXACTLY the same thing but this time, the protagonist will be female.

It’s been a while I saw a blatant rip off of another movie like this - they ripped off Taken so much that Lisa even makes a statement that was almost like Liam’s famous “I will find you and I will Kill you” speech.

The action sequences were one of the worst I have ever seen in a movie. The attempt to use the shaky cam technique to make the action sequence look intense made the movie even tackier. Also, the excessive use of slow motion and flash back did a good job of serenading me to sleep.

By the way, I think I saw that the currency used in this movie was the Naira, but I didn’t see it clearly so you guys can help me check it out and let me know.

Looking for a movie to serenade you to sleep, than go see Never Let Go and so it earns 3.2/ 10 on my awesome-o-meter.

Anyone excited to see Suicide Squad? Well, the good people at Genesis Cinemas have given me 2 free tickets to the premier, so if you want these tickets leave a comment in the comments section on any of the movies in the blog and make sure you leave your Twitter handle so we can reach you. Winners will be announced on Twitter so make sure you follow @ThaRevue

Piss out!

The Maveriq

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