MOVIE REVIEW (WEDDING PARTY 2 - DESTINATION DUBAI )

Alright, my review is late, very, very, late. I watched The Wedding Party 2 just a few days ago. "How was it?" it was a rip off. Lols. That is exactly how I felt, like EbonyLife TV deceived me, the trailers deceived me, Nigerians hype over the movie, deceived me! Chai!😂.

Watching Wedding Party 2 I did not get that same sense of satisfaction(I get when I have eaten a good meal), I got from watching the Ist series. Also, it did not assuage the anticipation that had built up in me and reached a crescendo. If you know how I had been chanting "wedding party two, wedding party two," dancing and disturbing everyone in the house, you would understand it was a very humbling moment for me, when I returned from the cinema and was asked, "so how was it?"

Okay, before I go on and on ranting about how the movie dissapointeddddd me, let me gist you my first-hand-viewing-experience of the glorified Wedding Party 2.
What makes a movie delightful, leave a lasting impression in the mind of the viewers long after it has been watched?

It is usually a plot that we can relate to generally, well executed roles and then the production; lighting effect, image quality, sound, cameo and other technicalities.
The plot is intriguing and the storyline is what had arrested the attention of most Nigerians and made us eager to see the movie. Nigerians are a special kind of people particular about marriage and family, finding the love of your life and getting hooked. However, what happens when there is a lil twist to the fairytale like the prince becomes an unfortunate victim of a misfired proposal?

 Such a tight plot and I expected same captivating role play. In any movie I look forward to seeing a character resonate with the emotion he is playing- anger, fear, shock, love, vengeance.  I kept waiting to see this passionate expressions in the lead characters, Deidre and Nonso and it did not happen. With them I got the "hey- it- is -just acting-this-is-not-real-life" vibrations. I could not feel the emotional connection between these two, in comparison with the characters of Dunni(Adesua Etomi) and Dozie(Banky W) in Wedding Party 1.

You could argue that unlike Dunni and Dozie, Deidre and Nonso's courtship wasn't exactly a smooth sail, but still I could not feel the energy that ought to have radiated from the characters. Despite that, this singular event of proposal by accident, set the movie rolling and had everything it needed to hold us spellbound and sustain our frenzied excitement till the very end but it did not.

The character Nonso did not give the expected emotional response. I wanted to see shock! bewilderment, confusion. At the point where Deidre said "yes", Nonso's expression looked as one who had not yet processed the implication of the "yes" and sadly he never showed to us that he did eventually, understand the gravity of his situation. There should have been a bit of withdrawal, some time alone to reflect(he needed space), to engage in some deep thinking; "am I ready to spend the rest of my life with this woman?" However, what I saw was a man who had been sent a delivery he never ordered for and he was left with casual choices-"to return, or just pay for it and keep it?"

From this point, the movie just ambled along like a peaceful brook.

Moving away from the characters of Diedre and Nonso, I noted that there were some very inappropriate and blurry scenes. One in particular that made my eyes pop was at the introduction ceremony where Deidre dad, eating the native kolanut(it's dreadfully bitter for those who have not tasted it) fell to the floor in what I describe as an over exaggerated show of repulsion. Was that necessary?  Does that happen in a real wedding ceremony? It was a faux attempt at comic relief.

Now about "AY" please, somebody tell me what is AY's relevance in the movie ehn? What did he now come and do? Tell us how our ancestors climbed trees abi? I don't understand. That scene was a total waste of viewing time.

There is a part in the movie that is not too clear. The interval between the moment Dunni's water broke and she had to be rushed to the hospital and coming back to continue the wedding at night. There was a gap there. In a typical Nigerian wedding where such a situation comes up usually there would be a voiced restiveness in the countenance of the wedding guest. There was no place showing how they were assuaged or calmed or the situation explained to them. So I did wonder if the guest sat down patiently, all day, till late in the night waiting for the "missing" bride?

All in all the movie was flawed, however we( I and my movie mate) did go euphoric over the effizy of the movie; exotic destinations, flashy show of wealth and opulence and Dunni giving birth to twins.

The cameo effect is wonderful, movie picture is of excellent quality, the song choices for the various scenes are on point, the plot fantastic. The movie is great I just expected more, much more.

So have you watched the movie, what did you think of it?