A.R.O.G

A.R.O.G is the second movie of the successful Turkish comedy G.O.R.A. Director, writer and actor Cem Yilmaz created an excellent movie again. Movie's universal language easily caught all the watchers wherever he/she is from. A.R.O.G. is an successful example of modern Turkish comedy. A.R.O.G. is about a tricky Turkish man (Arif) that goes back in time for a million years and there he met with the Stone age people. Also Arif is a very caricature character it is really funny and feels real most of the movie. A.R.O.G is not a ZAZ kind of movie but we can find lots of movie references to Space Oddsey 2001, Apocalyptica, Jurrasic Park or Time Machine… Like Stephen Chow made for Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Street, Cem Yilmaz made the same affect in Turkish cinema in G.O.R.A and A.R.O.G, not same success in special effects but seems satisfying and good enough. Definitely as a Stone Age thematic movie, it is far better then the RRRrrr!!! (it was a big disappointment…)

A.R.O.G is the sequel to G.O.R.A (2004) a Turkish mega budget sci-fi comedy and follows on from it really quite well.

Our hero Arif is back safe and sound at home with his cosmic love Ceku, but Logar isn't done with him and he finds himself sent back in time one million years!

Considering that G.O.R.A was Turkey's biggest movie to date and the amount of time and effort that went into it I wasn't impressed at all. I found it to be an unfunny two hours of silliness and campness, so I expected the absolute pits from A.R.O.G.

To my surprise it is better, but not by much. Unlike the first it has lost most of the campness and more jokes hit the mark.

The first movie was a standard sci-fi affair, all set in space with the usual tropes so writing A.R.O.G in this way was a huge gamble. This is barely sci-fi, the majority of the movie is set in the stone age so it's a very different creature altogether (And personally that suited me better).

Sure it's still silly and most of the jokes are terrible but I found myself cringing considerably less so that's something, right?

With most of the original cast, following on directly from the previous movie and the same "Charm" I'd say despite my low rating this is an accomplishment. I'm not the demographic, but I do see the appeal.

The Good:

Cem Yilmaz's ability to play two very different characters without me even realizing it was him!

Some funny moments

The Bad:

Too much western pop culture, it feels forced

Still plain silly

I don't understand why Cem Yilmaz insists so much in making movies. He is a very funny man. He is extremely successful in his stand up shows. He can entertain thousands when he is on the stage with his black shirt and trousers. With minimum investment, no decor, no make up, he generates maximum return in his shows. But when it comes to cinema I think he does not take his business as serious as it should be. It is as if he finds the jokes and starts the movie without any fundamental preparation. He needs professional help in creating a good story, writing a satisfactory script, finding a reasonable team of actors, needs a good cinematographer, editor and director. We expect really good movies from him as he has talent to contribute to a good movie. But he can not do everything by himself, this would be an insult to cinema. If he thinks that he will be successful in cinema so easily I think he is wrong.

It's great I still know the jokes by heart.

Cem Yilmaz.....

A Fantastic comedy film especially for Turkish audience.It contains jokes that only Turkish people can understand. There are a lot of specific jokes which is only funny for Turkish people Not a good film for the people who doesn't know Turkish people,life, news, adverts and that. Not better than G.O.R.A. but it is still very good. Some people say that it has a weak structure. But who cares? It makes you laugh and this is the point. I think it could be better but i cant say that it is a disappointment. Visual effects are excellent if we compare it with another Turkish movie. I recommend that every Cem Yilmaz fan must see this movie.