The movie Sugar Rush was sugar-sweet till we had to rush
In December 2019 I tried twice to see the movie Sugar Rush’ but the queue at the cinemas was daunting. Saturday, January 18th my husband and I left our house with a firm resolve to see this film, the hype in the months preceding the release of the movie has built anticipation. This time, we succeeded.
Earlier in the month, the film didn't screen in cinemas, it was suspended for bureaucratic reasons by The National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB).
The films Wikipedia page simply explains the plot as ‘Sugar sisters accidentally discover 800,000 dollars in the house of a corrupt man. In the next couple of days, they spend the entire money only to meet their waterloo when mafias come to claim the stake of the money’. By mafias, they mean Toke Makinwa (Gina) who almost convinced us she was a ‘mafioso’ amidst a galloping accent that tottered between British/Scottish and Nigerian. She looked impeccable in every scene, even her death looked like a beauty sleep and Uzor Arukwe (Knight) was, also a worthy villain. Everyone was great and had us in stitches.
The Sweetest Highlights
The trio of Adesua Etomi-Wellington (Susie), Bisola Aiyeola (Sola) and Bunmi Ademoye (Bola) brought life to the story from start to almost finish.
The sugary parts of the film, the easy banter, the ridiculousness of some actions. The scenes where they found the money, talking to dead bodies and staying in a pitch dark room to argue though not relatable but made possible by brilliant acting. There were many scenes that made us gasp in delight.
Bisola ‘Sola’ delivered entertainment, the entire cast was good, but Bisola was better.
Along with Bola ‘Bunmi Ademoye’ and Susie ‘Adesua’ who is cast as the sensible, solid person that needs loads of convincing to let her hair down and always saves the day. Again. We now know what to expect from an Adesua character, typecasting in the movie industry is veridical.
The film is heartwarming and helped viewers suspend reality until it was time to transition from comedy to thriller, we guess. The story took a turn that brought us back to earth but not in a good way.
Moments that made it Sugary
Almost all the times the sisters were together. Sweetness.
Omoni Oboli’s acid glare. She played the role of the corrupt boss-Zilla to perfection. The portrayal of the EFCC as an organisation that cannot be trusted with data, lives and money is disturbing but made great comedy.
Tobi Bakre (Andy) the unserious boyfriend who oddly pivotal to the whole plot twist and was a believable bad influence.
The time the kingpin (Knight)came for his money and I tasted her fear from across the screen, from his (Knights) raspy menacing voice to his demeanour.
Moments when things became less sugary
Here are a few moments were slightly off.
Thickening the plot.
The introduction of the idea of stealing from Anikulapo an affluent man with supernatural powers, got us expecting more comedic fun. But alas it was a rude awakening that this was still a Nigerian film.
While I give Bankole Wellington a whole lot of kudos, he was heavily supported with props (dyed beard, golden boubou)or perhaps the props was his undoing, they tried too hard to create a character to be scared of, then executed it with an actor who struggled to act fierce or to keep a straight face or appear like he could hurt a fly. The result is the absolute disillusionment of the viewer. I like Banky, however, in this movie the viewer is convinced he came to debunk the myth surrounding his character. After watching him in this role, I am convinced of the goodness of his heart in real life.
The invisible car, et al
The Babalawo and walls, bulletproof jazz, the dyed beard, the burning of the hapless red matchbox on wheels aka car. At this point, my husband promptly slept off. The good thing was we already had fun and the movie was almost over.
The shirtless EFCC guy
the time Mawuli Gavor (Dan) cute and the predictable chemistry between him and Susis was oddly not cute, sweating in a cool banana island apartment and feeling quite at home drinking water that conveniently ticked down his chest and the moment Susie appeared in slo-mo was cliche, but the worst part of that scene was the absurdly lame conversation between the two. Watching a mentally fit actress like Adesua fling herself headlong into flimsy material is cringeworthy.
Would I see the film again? Yes. Up until the serious stuff that didn’t quite come across as serious more like they were messing with us? Anikulapo gave orders to his men to burn Susie and Dan. We were made to wait for this to happen at dawn, the ‘men’ conveniently became one exhausted-looking man. and the unnecessary burning of the poor old red car. I feel they hurried us to the end of the film.
I definitely want to watch the sisters before all the plot twists and turns and talk of vengeance.
