I was privileged to watch
the movie a trip to Jamaica at a cinema while on holiday in Nigeria. I have
decided to review the movie now as it would be premiered and screened at Odeon
Cinema Greenwich. See details at the end of the movie.
According to Ayo Makun (AY), the executive
producer, the movie is a
hilarious instalment of the Akpos series and was shot in Lagos, Atlanta
and Montego Bay in Jamaica, with an all-star cast drawn from Nigeria,
Ghana, America and Jamaica. He says after the success of ‘30 Days In
Atlanta’ there were a lot of calls for more so they decided to do a
spinoff to showcase further adventures of Akpos. ‘A Trip to Jamaica’ which
bridges the gap between Nollywood, Gollywood, Hollywood and the Jamaican
movie industry showcases AY again as the no-holds- barred Akpos, alongside
the award-winning Funke Akindele Bello, who plays Bola his fiancée and a
host of other artists.
Storyline: The movie
opens to Akpos (AY) proposing to his
girlfriend Bola (Funke Akindele) during a live
concert. She accepts his proposal, and the couple decides to travel to Atlanta
to visit Abigail (Nse Ikpe-Etim) and her wealthy husband,
who is referred to as Big man (Dan Davies).
During their visit, an unexpected turn leads to a family trip to Jamaica. Little
did they know that there was more to it than meets the eye and it is not all
that glitters that is gold. The movie is a combination of love,
adventure, crime and lots of comedy.”
I
have had the opportunity to read some reviews of the movie (which I do not
normally do). However, in my view, although in real life some of the events in
the movie do not happen, we need to bear in mind the story is about Akpos and
as such is just meant to be comic. Anyone that has read about Akpos knows that
he is just a psychiatric case just to put it mildly, In my view with the wealth
of experience in the movie a combination of AY and Funke the character of Akpos
was brought out. AY brought the character
to life and made the story believable. That is what a movie is all about.
Unlike some of the critics, I connected with the storyline.
Cast: Apart from AY and Funke
Akindele Bello who were lead cast, the movie also The movie also featured Chris Attoh of
the Tinsel fame, Nse Ikpe-Etim one of Nollywood’s finest, Eric
Roberts, Paul Campbell of ‘The 3rd World Cop’ fame in Jamaica,, Dan Davies from
Hollywood Rebecca Silvera who was the former
Miss Jamaica., Patoranking a singer and
song writer, Cynthia Morgan also a songwriter and singer and Ras Kimono a popular musician
I think overall, the
balance in the cast lead and supporting was good. The collaboration is also
commended. The cast understood the script and the mind of the Director and both
the leads and the supporting cast brought the script together and nailed it. I
have seen loads of Nollywood Movies and reviewed quite a few but in the last
few weeks the quality of Nollywood Movies that are being released are worthy of
commendation and this is not an exception. We may not have attained 100% excellence
but movies like this and some others are towing the line in the right path. The
choice of lead actors for the parts they played was commendable. I think the
balance was right. Let me focus on Nse, she just demonstrated that she can play
any role. On a whole I commend the cast especially our foreign brothers and
sisters. Not saying they were all perfect, but non the less they must be
commended. What can I say of the Jamaican Drug Lords, I leave that to you!!!
Picture Quality: This is one area
where most of the Nollywood movies miss it. However, in this movie in all locations
in which they were shot including Nigeria not only were the locations right,
but the pictures were clear and the cinematography projected the intent of the
movie. The pictures were not out of frame and generally good. There is however
room for improvement and imagination. Check out the house!!!
Sound Quality: In my view,
the sound quality was good for the context of the movie. Unlike in most movies,
there were no noticeable external sound interferences. No negative comments on
the sound.
Overall performance: I was impressed
with the level of professionalism and experience that was shown in the entire production.
I believe that the entire production was ridden with excellence and was well executed.
AY has been known as a comedian and in fact just concluded a show in Lagos. For
those who do not know him, he is from Warri (Wafi) in the Mid Western part of
Nigeria and has brought the experience of his comedy and life as a Wafi man
into the character of Akpos. The movie was very easy to follow. All the
locations that were used in the movie were on point. As I stated earlier, the
sub titles were on point. From production to post production, there was
consistency and the transition was smooth.
As a movie critic, I must
say this is one good movie, and I would be recommending it. You need to watch
this. The movie would be premiering at Odeon Cinema in Greenwich on Friday 9th
December and then screening on Saturday the 10th and Sunday the 11th
of December at the same Cinema. I would like to encourage you to turn out and
watch this movie. It would be worth your time. See details below
All that is left to say is
well done to AY and his entire cast and crew for another successful movie.
Watch the trailer:
