Viva Riva!

Starts off sexy and glamourous, then goes all Pulp Fiction on us, and ends up a bit too far down the "kill everyone" road. However, at no point on the rollercoaster ride does it reveal any intelligence, power or character depth. It's a bunch of cartoon villains, heroes, sidekicks and sexpots chasing each other in meaningless circles of guns, cars and cash. Only in the final family scene does Riva have any semblance of depth. More of a step sideways than forwards, for African cinema.

The fact that this gangster flick is from a sociopolitical hotspot like Congo gives it a more exotic and dangerous vibe. Doesn't avoid all the clichés of the genre, but still quite entertaining.

My first african movie. It may not be good, but I do think it’s very interesting seeing a story set in the DCR, which makes it a worthwhile watch. There is shitty dance music (because every country in the world had their own Pitbull in 2010), lesbians and a lot of violence. I know, way too high score for the novelty of it

Technically on par with similar movies from other countries but the plot is an absolute mess from the start. Paper-thin characters do not help. There is absolutely no tension in any scene and it seems like the writers ran out of ideas halfway through, when they had to deal with all the characters they introduced. Avoids the very worst cliches which saves it from a lower score for me, but still chalking this up as a dislike.

I love the crime drama genre, but Viva Riva just doesn't offer the viewer any reasons to care about anything. The plot is very straightforward and all the characters are selfish assholes. After a while I realised I didn't really care how things would turn out for anyone, kind of a bummer. The sexy and brooding atmosphere was nice though.

"The landscape may have changed, but Viva Riva!'s story is a familiar one." - Ilya Tovbis