Sumotherhood

Adam Deacon releases this body of work as a warning to his peers to let them know… I’m BACK!! “And I can still produce a high-quality production without the help of you guys” and we hear you loud and clearrrrrr…

Unsure if it’s a sequel or prequel, what we do know is its built in the same universe as Anuvahood… which we are now calling the “HOODIVERSE” my copyright has already been filed! Riko and Kane have got it all… big dreams, no respect and a fifteen grand debt. Could things get any worse? Yes. So, it’s time to man up and finally be taken serious as “Roadmen”. Once putting their heads together on various ways to make some money, they decide to rob a megastar in a nightclub toilet and hold up the local bank but things inevitably don’t go to plan. However, somehow a misunderstanding leads them to be desired and acquired for business with one of East London’s toughest firms, putting them in the line of fire to the firm’s arch-rivals. Can Riko and Kane live up to their name? There are jokes, guns, explosions, weed, car chases, EVERYTHING!

Adam Deacon returns as director, writer, producer and actor playing Riko. He’s hilarious. He’s the “genius” of the pair believe it or not. It’s a smart role as he plays on his real-life challenges and diagnosis of bipolar and mental health. Its brave and courageous to witness a man overcome these kinds of challenges then base a whole comedy drama production on it. His acting chops are still excellent although exhausting in some scenes but non the less good to see him back. Another returning face is Jazzie Zonzolo who plays Kane. He brings a high energetic charisma to his scenes reminiscent of his old content and it fits quite well here so it’s good to see. He’s more the scared idiotic one of the pair. It’s a decent performance overall. Arnold Jorge stars as Dwayne the sort of 3^rd wheel to our dynamic duo. He’s a bullied character all through out just trying to be heard. He’s usually a source of energy but he’s a lot calmer here so it’s a good showcase of his range.

From here it’s an absolute British talent showreel with cameos on cameos.

Big Ed Sheeran is brilliant. Fully steals the show with his solo scene as a drug user with of course vocal talent. Great work. You have Charlie Sloth and Lethal B appear as themselves adding to the story and just being themselves so don’t know if it can be called acting lol. It’s one of the funny scenes and a good addition. Megaman is in as a henchman, London Hughes as a bank clerk, Jennifer Saunders as a SWAT team captain and one of the most random appearances being Jeremy Corbyn! Absolutely hilarious. Denise Van Outen, Tamzin Outhwaite, Eddie Kadie, Babatune Aleshe to name a few more… the list is crazy and I fully appreciated it! Great casting.

It has a beautiful professional filter giving it that slick cinematic look showcasing the high budget behind it. They were not shy with production. There are some huge action spectacles on display and they are on par with the market trends. There’s a club fighting scene where we see Adam and Jazzie actually both get their hands dirty, surprisingly really good. Another scene with a big car chase coupled with Hollywood blockbuster level explosions which although felt out of place was interesting to see. Soundtrack is brilliant with urban classics from Skepta, Jammer, Ed Sheeran, Russ Millions and many more. It’s a glorified collection mixtape issuing praise to the UK scene.

I enjoyed the film. It had lots of funny moments and the characters were brilliant. The Asian gangster Pinky was a highlight amongst loads more. The format of the film was however very jumbled and messy. The runtime of 2 hours wasn’t warranted. You could actually feel scenes were being dragged out which then affected the quality of jokes, stretching them, so then the punch lines are easily missed. The pacing is very upbeat and there is a lot to unpack. There were little plot points which worked and some that didn’t and in attempt to bring it all full circle to connect the dots in the climatic finale, it just didn’t work. Myself and my peers debated after trying to figure out the target audience which wasn’t very clear. Being in my late 30s every cameo was a hit for me and had me grinning. For the seemingly targeted audience of 16+ I’m sure they will enjoy it but a lot of the guest appearances will go over their head, for example the Murkle Man… hopefully they are able to uncover footage from the archives. The movie touches on major subjects like brotherhood, friendship, family and all. As well as sensitive subjects like mental health, sexual harassment, drug usage, etc. all of which are good messages.

Above all it’s a brilliant return and I look forward to seeing more from Adam and his team. I will say yes, you get a budget but you don’t need to fit your vision to the budget… keep your narrative streamlined and authentic, regardless of duration. This was too long. If you have change after, keep your change lol no need to stretch scenes. There’s a lot of needless clips to unpack but nonetheless it’s a fun movie which will please a broad age range. I would have preferred a straight to streaming release but still a good watch.

Who was your favourite character? Who was your favourite cameo? Are you keen to see more from the HOODIVERSE? How did Adam do on his comeback to cinema? React and comment below…