WIVES ON STRIKE: The Revolution.
Wives on Strike: The
Revolution, is a dramedy sequel of Wives on Strike part 1. It features an
interesting blend of comic characters and a bunch of Nollywood legends like:
Julius Agwu, Toyin Abraham, Odunlade Adekola, Kenneth Okonkwo, Sola Sobowale,
Omoni Oboli and a host of others. Omoni Oboli expertly wrote, produced and
directed this hilarious and strongly-messaged driven film.
This movie reminds me so
much of JP Clarke’s Wives Revolt, where the wives in a community abandoned all
aspect of their roles as wives and mothers as a revolt against the government
of the community for a hash decision taken by them that negatively affected the
women. In this light, I see the angle
Omoni Oboli portrays as she denounces the epidemiology of Domestic Violence
and Child Marriage.
I also appreciate that she
considered the class of people in this movie because, it is known that man’s
major needs are money and sex and it is he who has fed well, that can afford to
lavish money on sourcing for sex from diverse places. The men in this movie
were mostly mechanics and bus drivers who barely made enough to cater for their
families that they could not afford to invest on financing and keeping side
chicks happy all in the name of meeting their sexual desires.
In fact, this was most
glaring in Kenneth Okonkwo’s character as Omoni Oboli’s husband. Omoni, who was
a vibrant member of the union, hence keeping to the ‘no sex strike’ to the last
T. Just looking at Kenneth’s frustration in the scene where he was begging
Omoni for sex, you could just tell that if he had been better placed and had
had some extra thousands of Naira to throw around, he would have been resting
in the arms of his side chick quickly and Omoni might not have dared to embark
on the strike a second time.
Howbeit, it would have
also been nice to see a little bit of creativity with the tool for the strike.
Yes, withholding sex paid off for the women in the first part but they could
have been made to strike with something else, say their money or any other thing
other than sex in this part. In as much as the men might not have been able to
fund sex from third parties, they are not goats that would just sit and have
their wives punish them with sex, that is a large part of the marriage bargain;
at some point, they themselves would revolt too.
The itch too far for me
to scratch, thereby causing an uncomfortable experience while I watched this
movie, was the illusion of a world where humans are totally loyal, that no
woman was seen breaking the strike in the privacy of her home to meet her husband’s
sexual needs. Nah, that didn’t work for me, because movies again, are supposed
to be make-believe and in the world we live in, there is always, always a Judas, even Jesus attested to
this. So if there had been a character who was seen breaking her bond and
giving her husband ‘something’, that would have been real, hilarious and
acceptable.
One more almost
forgivable issue I had with this movie was the costumes and set designs; it was
too colorful. A lot of scenes initially looked like they were prepared for a
5-year –old’s birthday party, until the actual actions took place.
Now that I have extended my back for you to assist me in scratching the itches, let me serve you the sumptuous meal: The good,
The cinematography and
lighting of the movie were well executed. We have clearly gotten to a point
where we can now bank on the cinematography of our movies, no matter how weak
or low budget any aspect of the movie is, this will certainly be a kill for us.
Excellent!
The movie had a strong
intention to crack us up and permit me to say that this intention was met, with
Toyin Abraham and Sola Shobowale characters emitting more laughs than the
renowned comic act, Julius Agwu.
One other aspect of this
movie that deserves more than a thumbs up was the way brand names were smartly
dropped in an original and effortless manner, like: how the women angrily
addressed the Government with microphones branded ‘Red TV’, almost making it
look like an unintentional move or, the part where the lady casually hinted
that she had just gotten a grant from the philanthropist, Tony Elumelu, making
him look like a movie character. I loved it.
The characters:
This was my best part.
The casting of this movie was a careful, deliberate and exciting blend of real
and original actors, ranging from Shola Shobowale who is clearly winning now,
to Kenneth Okonkwo, an actor that is bankable anytime, any day.
Firstly, Shola Sobowale.
She is one actress that will never let you down. She is a legend in Nollywood
and with every movie she features in, she takes her time to show us why she is.
In this movie, she was too original, one could see the hurt in her eyes and
hear the pain in her voice each scene when she addressed the women. It felt
like a mother who would go to the ends of the earth to see that her childen get
the best part of the bargain.
If you read our
Nollywood Wrap Up 2017 and watched this movie, you will certainly understand
why we crowned Toyin Abraham our Best Actress of 2017. The woman is a natural.
In a normal circumstance, her acting in this movie could have been termed
extra, but she is Toyin Abraham, acting a local Yoruba, English speaking wanna-be
character is her specialty and she effortlessly delivered. Watch this movie for
her!
Omoni Oboli wasn’t just
the writer, director and producer of this movie, she was also another character
that excited me. She is always real and a pleasure to watch. She wore her
character of Mrs Ngozi so well that even her husband in the movie confirmed
that she was a strong force in the union.
Kenneth Okonkwo! Where
has he been? Why haven’t we seen him in a while? We have missed him! Kenneth
made his marriage to Omoni very believable: The silly love games he played with
his wife, the way he laughed at her jokes, the way he asked her for sex in that
coy and funny way, the genuine look of pride on his face when his wife won the
political position. This is another person you should watch the movie for!
Chigurl is one actress
that has shown the ability to evolve and wear different hats, which is a major
quality that most top actors in Nollywood do not have. Whether she is the fat,
funny Igbo accented Ngozi or an intimidated wife who has been constantly
violated by her husband, as in this movie; she will always come through. We
love Chigurl for that!
In summary, this movie
is a well-executed public service announcement; it strongly passed the message,
‘Domestic Violence is an act that should be frowned at by everyone, man and
woman’, well. Which is why on a scale of zero to five, this baby girl gives
this movie a THREE AND A HALF. I
recommend this movie to everyone! You will laugh hard and leave the cinema
feeling empowered.
Go, see the movie, have
fun and tell me what you think of it in the comment section below. Hopefully,
the next time I go see a movie I can get your verbal reaction and review #Wink
Full Cast
Omoni Oboli
Kenneth Okonkwo
Elvina Ibru
Odunlade Adekola
Sola Shobowale
Toyin Abraham
Julius Agwu
Chioma Chukwuka
Uche Jombo
Ufuoma McDermott
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……….Talk2urHommie……….
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