Reloaded: Naija Movie

Games Men Play RELOADED Part 1 and 2
Written by: Emem Isong
Produced by Emem Isong and Desmond Elliot
Trailer: http://www.nollywood.com/video/Reloaded_movie_trailer

Guest Critic: ShonaVixen
Please give a round of applause to our guest critic Shona; she and Funms have done a fantastic job writing a review for the movie- with very little contribution from me. I, Tigeress on the other hand have done an audio post critiquing the story line, costume, acting and the relationships. If you have not watched the movie and do not want to know what happens in the movie- then shut down your browser now. Other than that………..ENJOY!!!! Read, listen and let us have your say and do not forget to rate it.


For those of you that have watched Games men play, this movie is somewhat a continuation of it. Featuring Stars like Ramsey Nouah, Desmond Elliot, Rita Dominic, Van Vicker, Monalisa Chinda, Ini Edo, Nse Ikpe, Stephanie Okereke amongst others
It centers around four different couples at different stages of a relationship and marriage

Couple 1: Omoze and Femi (Nse Ikpe Etim and Ramsey Nouah)
Femi is a pathological cheater, seems he can not control himself and his wife Omoze, a no-nonsense wifey, knows this and always does everything to either catch him red handed or prevent him. On many occasions, she followed him discretely, confronted the mistresses and even caused a scene. In one scene, after she corners him red-handed in a somewhat compromising situation, he deflects the issue from his own waywardness and berates her for carrying on publicly in an undignified manner. He does make a point. No person - male or female - is worth losing it in public for. Even though I applaud her courage in taking matters to her hands in letting these women know she is the wife, I don’t ever see myself acting in such a manner publicly…. There’s no point in losing my dignity over a man. This couple do end up divorced.

Couple 2: Tayo and Osita (Ini Edo & Desmond Elliot)
This was the saddest story of the lot to me. Osita subjects his wife to emotional abuse………. No man and I repeat NO MAN has the right to berate a woman, take away her self esteem and treat her with no respect. Osita is a pathetic human being who makes his inferiority complex so obvious by belittling his wife, Tayo. He abuses her physically, mentally, emotionally and she in turn hangs in the marriage for the sake of Love or being married. Tayo comes up with a master plan to set up Osita. For a man who feels his wife is a nonentity, watch and see who ends up looking like a punk.

Couple 3: Weyinmi and Bube (Stephanie Okereke &Van Vicker)
Weyinmi has been dating Bube for almost 7 years, has had 6 abortions for him (do the maths and you realize that it's like she's been getting pregnant almost every year since they've been together), and yet he refuses to put a ring on her finger. Personally, I see her as a shame to womanhood as she has allowed an unemployed fool who obviously has nothing to offer, treat her with such disdain. Annoyingly, it’s this same Bube we see in a scene with his friends, defining WIFE in the most derogatory and blatantly subservient terms possible i.e. Washing. Ironing. F**ing & Etc. It’s like WTH???

After her sixth abortion Weyinmi find wedding invitation with Bube as the groom, and yup she’s not the bride. Weyinmi represents the women who are willing to do anything to keep their man, even though she wasn’t willing to have the abortions BUT because Bube had said it was the right thing to do she went ahead and did it. There is a thing such as a thin line between Love and Foolishness and Weyinmi jumped over to the foolish side and kept running. It took Bube marrying another woman for her to put her breaks on. To find out what she did……….watch the movie!!!

Couple 4: Chelsea and Edwin (Rita Dominic and ……)
A definition of a perfect couple. Wait! what exactly makes a perfect couple? Edwin seems to treat Chelsea with such love and respect that every woman craves, attends to her every need, breakfast in bed, the romance and the affection. His only flaw? Watch it and find out!
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Note audio correction: Not all that glitters is gold....
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Funms…..
The movie takes us on their journey, and as a woman, I must say I really enjoyed it as it seems to be telling the story from our point of view. It shows the various relationships problems most of us find ourselves in daily, some extremely stupid, others, unfortunate. It reiterates what the society frowns at and shows us the various ways in which they handled the situation.
I was impressed as it touched on various subjects most Nigerian movies have frowned e.g: Divorce and sexuality. We see how hell hath no fury like a woman scorned as Weyinmi depicted on Bube’s wedding day. It shows us that cheating should never be excused, thanks to Omoze’s crazy and sometimes extreme actions. Chelsea shows us that all that glitters is not gold and Tayo portrays to the viewers how women should never put up with a spouse’s verbal and physical abuse.

The soundtrack was really catchy and not the typical boring sound effects and at no point did I see any reference to Jazz: African magic which is a plus for me.

All in all, it’s an excellent move that addresses important relationship issues, even those with catastrophic endings.

ShonaVixen…..
The sad bit about Reloaded is that there is NO happy couple at all. Looking at it there’s the cheating husband, the abusive husband, the boyfriend who marries some-one else and the bi-sexual boyfriend!! And even if the movie had a female narrator this movie made it seem like women were never at fault and they are the ones who are done harm to all the time. Does this represent the real deal then?? I ShonaVixen certainly don’t think so.

It is an upgrade from the Nollywood movies that are shown on AIT/Nigeria movies as the soundtracks, make-up, and fashion are all on point. There is one scene that didn’t get deleted that I so wish it was- the Rita Dominic in the toilet scene….why oh why???

So all in all I’d give the movie 3stars

The Prestige

Written and directed by Christian Nolan

Main Characters
Hugh Jackman
Christian Bale
Michael Caine
Scarlet Johansson
Rebecca Hall


At the dawn of the 20th century, rival magicians Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) endeavor to reveal each other's secrets. Obsessed by the escalating competition, the two illusionists begin to perform increasingly risky tricks, which soon turn deadly. Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson and David Bowie also star in this taut psychological thriller from director Christopher Nolan- Netflix.com.

To read the plot click here….

Funms’ take
I am a huge fan of any movie that has Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale because I hope there’s a little possibility of one of them going shirtless in the movie…..which I totally forgot about as this movie proved beyond any reasonable doubt to be one of the most attention-grabbing films ever made.

Read very Closely…..
“Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige".”

One of the greatest twist I discovered in the movie is realising Alfred had an identical twin which satisfied my hunger for desperately wanting to know the great magical trick for his transported man act.

Every movie has its downsides and I found it disappointing that this movie, which started so great, filled with surprises ended on a really weak note. Ironically, the movie’s “Prestige” was nothing more than a third act which showed that the journey is more important than the destination.

On a final note, I learnt a really true phrase which is applicable to some experiences in our daily lives…. “Now you're looking for the secret. But you won’t find it because of course, you're not really looking. You don't really want to work it out. You want to be fooled”


Tigeress’s Take
I give this movie 4stars out of 5. This is definitely a movie you’d have to watch more than once in order to understand it- then again maybe it’s just me (lol!!). I can see how some folks might not like it, but I really liked it and it’s definitely a movie I’ll recommend. If you liked movies such as the Lucky Sleven, The Ususal Suspect, and The Illusionist (which by the way is alo based on magic, Ed Norton) then this movie is for you- and you will find it fully engaging. And as Funms mentioned, you'll be so engrossed with figuring out what is going on that you wont notice the sexy actors/actresses. The acting was good. The scenes were realistic. The costumes were on point. The story line was good- though confusing with all the twists.
The film received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction and the Academy Award for Best Cinematography which was well deserved. It's just a shame that they didn't win.


The Prestige attempts a hat trick by combining a ridiculously good-looking cast, a highly regarded new director, and more than one sleight of hand, but does it pull it off?
You'd have to watch it to say. And if you’ve watched it, let us have your take.