Tuesday, 6 December 2016

Review of AY's A trip to Jamaica




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 fiancĂ©e 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:



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