A.R.O.G

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.

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…)

This movie is a masterpiece from the most comic comedian of Turkey.I want congratulate Cem Yılmaz because of this movie.The movie is about a man named with Arif.Arif is a characteristic guy.He has been going to past times with using a time machine.He became friend with somebody on the past and he started to teach them modern things.He made the first football match,making graffiti to caves.At the end he came back to normal time.It is a nice science fiction comedy.Maybe ı watched it for two times.In Turkey this film cutted records.I think you shopuld watch it if you want to laugh.I made this rewiev with my friend Deniz.Thank you for reading.

Cem Yilmaz, who is the funniest man of Turkiye, has broke another record with this film (with its hilarious and creative scenes of course). Unfortunately, for non-Turkish ppl, like most (even all) of Turkish films, many humours in these scenes were lost, since mostly attributions are about a life of a very classical and easterner Turkish person and his comments about Turkish social, political and cultural life. You will also childish joke scenes which I also didn't enjoy, too. I don't know, but, this must be his way of filming, on the contrary, his shows never make concessions about quality.

Another subject is don't expect a great visual scenes, as this is not a Hollywood film which one of the richest governments in the world supports financially, on the other hand, this is just a Turkish film (not the best one) which a company accepted to be the sponsor of limitedly.

Nevertheless, don't get disappointed yet. The film is more than 2 hours and each 5 minutes include at least one thing to laugh(for all). Well, this is no different indeed for non-Turkish speakers to watch this film or for me to watch "how i met your mother" episodes. I find "how i met your mother" as the funniest show ever, but, sometimes there are a few jokes American-ish. So I think it will mostly make you laugh, while it is important to watch it with a valid subtitle to understand every single joke, as this movie was filmed mostly to make people laugh.

Such a very small explanation for non-Turkish speakers; Ridvan Dilmen is a commentator (and an old footballer) who seems in late minutes in the film. In Turkish matches, whenever he says "it's a goal", well, there the shot then and it is. (damn! he is like a seer!) Well, he was not really the person who we expect to see in that scene all of a sudden.

Oh, I'd almost forget! Have I told you what record Cem Yilmaz broke with this movie? His first film, GORA, had been watched by about 1 million people in three days in Turkiye. Now, this is the third day and I think for AROG, this number has already rised up and still is rising...