THE AMAZING PRAYBEYT BENJAMIN (2014 MMFF Entry) | Movie Review

Plot:
The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin, the sequel to 2011’s The Unkabogable Praybeyt Benjamin, follows Benjamin “Benjie” Santos VIII (Vice Ganda), who has now gained worldwide popularity, as he tries to defeat yet another terrorist attack in the country, with the help of his new commanding officer General Wilson Chua (Richard Yap).

Cast :

Vice Ganda as Colonel Benjamin "Benjie" Santos VIII
Richard Yap as Commanding General "Wilson" Chua
Tom Rodriguez as Janjaranjan
James "Bimby" Aquino-Yap as Bimbee Pineda Chua
Alex Gonzaga as Gundina Galamiton
Eddie Garcia as Benjamin "Ben" Santos VI
Al Tantay as Benjamin "Bino" Santos VII
Vandolph Quizon as Buhawi Manay
Nikki Valdez as Lucresia Alcantara
Kean Cipriano as Emerson Ecleo
DJ Durano as Dominador "Dondi" Rosales

Ricky Rivero as Big Boy Carnate
Dennis Padilla as Benjie's Uncle
Malou de Guzman as Lilibeth Santos
Dannica De Guzman as Herself

SPOILER ALERT!!

My notes on The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin:

1. The common defense on these Vice Ganda-Wenn Deramas collaborations is that they are not gunning for awards. These movies were made to make people laugh and let them have a great time. On that aspect alone, this one failed miserably. Not one chuckle, I tell you.

2. Here are the sample jokes:

"Bonjour!"

(sound of car crashing)

"Ang bata na bonjour!"

"Tumawag ang presidente. Alam mo ano ang sabi niya?"

"Hello?"

If you laughed at these jokes, then this movie was made for you.

3. In the original, there was one long sequence involving Angry Birds. Here, Deramas took it a notch higher with extended sequences on Plants vs. Zombies and Dota. I can't wait for Clash of Clans and Hay Day to show up in the next one.

4. Poor Eddie Garcia was made to dance like a buffoon for a non-funny bit. And he got killed in a scene where his character basically waited for the bomb to detonate. I hope he was paid well for this gig.

5. Benjamin's father, previously played by Jimmy Santos and now by Al Tantay, developed a Polyjuice Potion that allowed cameos by Angel Locsin, Luis Manzano, and Kris Aquino (thereby guaranteeing two horrible performances in this year's filmfest). Sorry Vice but John Lapus did a better impersonation of Krizzy in Moron 5.2. (Oh and the Feng Shui bagua made a cameo here as well.)

6. Why they used a fan with bullets and a headdress with sparklers as weapons was beyond me. Don't get me started on that Mary Poppins flying umbrella.

7. Benjamin was reprimanded by his parents for being haughty, rude, and egotistic and for letting fame get into his head. Sound familiar?

8. Alex Gonzaga was annoying and plain awful. She should have asked for tips on how to be funny from her Ate Toni.

9. Richard Yap played a general that loved saying "Tse!". K.

10. Bimby in drag actually looked like Ryzza Mae Dizon. May I suggest a remake of Ang Pulubi at ang Prinsesa?

11. Even with the in-your-face approach, I won't be subscribing to Starmobile, I won't watch on iwantv, and I won't drink Nice Day Coffee.

12. Of course there was a group dance sequence in the end promoting the new single, Push Mo Yan. Sige, push nyo yan.

Boom. Panes.

Movie Rate : ★☆☆☆☆

Directed by Wenn V. Deramas and produced by Star Cinema and VIVA Films

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Movie Review by : Jason Javier