The Unkabogable Praybeyt Benjamin

The Unkabogable: Praybeyt Benjamin
Theatrical movie poster
Directed by	Wenn Deramas
Produced by	Charo Santos-Concio Malou Santos Vic R. Del Rosario Jr.
Written by	Wenn Deramas
Screenplay by	Keiko Aquino Wenn Deramas
Starring	Vice Ganda
Music by	Vincent de Jesus
Cinematography	Elmer Despa
Edited by	Marya Ignacio
Production company	ABS-CBN Film Productions, Inc. Viva Films
Distributed by	Star Cinema
Release dates	October 26, 2011 (2011-10-26)
Country	Philippines
Language	Filipino (Tagalog) English
Box office	PHP 331,631,283[1]

The Unkabogable: Praybeyt Benjamin is a 2011 Filipino action spoof comedy film starring Vice Ganda. It was written and directed by Wenn V. Deramas.^[2][3]

The film is the first Filipino film to break the P300 million mark in the box office. It is the highest grossing Filipino film in 2011 and once held the title of the highest-grossing Filipino film of all time, until it was surpassed by the 2012 Metro Manila Film Fest entry, Sisterakas.^[4] It is currently the 5th highest grossing Filipino film of all time; it would be #2 (only behind It Takes a Man and a Woman) if MMFF entries will be removed. The film made Vice Ganda the Phenomenal Box Office Star of 2011, awarded by the Box Office Entertainment Awards.

Plot

Benjamin "Benjie" Santos VIII (Vice Ganda) comes from a long line of warriors and soldiers. His grandfather, Benjamin Santos VI (Eddie Garcia), expects him to be in the army and to be like his ancestors who fought every battle in the country. He lives with his parents and two sisters named Jesamine (Angelie Urquico) and Anjamin (Abby Bautista). His father, Benjamin Santos VII (Jimmy Santos), gave up being a military soldier to be what he wants to be, a scientist and an inventor. Benjie's grandfather did not agree with his decision, so they were forced to leave his grandfather's house and to never come back. They now live in a cramped house, where they started a new life. His father, as expected, followed what makes him happy. He invented gadgets and unique deadly weapons. Some examples are the Fart-gun, or the Utot-gun in Tagalog, a fan that shoots bullets, and a tiara that can kill thousands of people.

A few years later they were invited to his grandfather's 75th birthday by a relative. His grandfather finds out Benjie is gay. They were asked to leave and to never show their faces again for they are a disgrace to the Santos family.

When a civil war in the Philippines breaks out, Benjie is forced to enlist in place of his ailing father, who was said to have high blood pressure and diabetes. After a long time training, Benjie's group was to be dissolved for being not good enough. His group decides to train at night, and show their improvement in the morning. A rival group, incensed with constantly losing to Benjie's group during training, sought to reveal Benjie's sexuality by getting Benjie drunk and filming a sex video of him.

The following morning, the High-General calls Benjie because of the video, and makes him leave the army. When Benjamin was about to leave, his friends joined him saying, "Hindi kami masaya kung wala ka!" ("We are not happy without you!"). They left the army, and while travelling through a wooded area, they heard some trucks and cars moving. They wake up, and followed the cars, resulting in them discovering the location of the enemy base by accident.

They went back to the army, and told the High-General about what they saw, but he wouldn't believe them. They believed the real enemy base was in Tanay, based on the army's gathered information and decided to attack there instead. While the army searched for enemy forces at the Tanay base, they were ambushed by hundreds of terrorists. Meanwhile, Benjie's group returns to the enemy's real base, where they saw the terrorist's trucks with the captured forces, including Benjie's grandfather and Brandon Estolas (Derek Ramsay)—the group's former commander in the army and Benjie's love-interest. They then make plans to rescue their allies by dressing up as girls to trick the enemy guards into letting them inside their base. Once inside, the group kills many people with the tiara, fan, and Fart-gun that Benjie's father invented.

As they enter the base, the group split up in different ways. When one of the terrorists spots what he thought was Benjie hiding in a metal barrel, he then tells Abe Sayyep (named after the Abu Sayyaf), the squadron commander, about what he saw. Abe Sayyep pulls out the wig Benjie put in the barrel, only to find out it was some sort of trickery. Benjie finds his grandfather, Brandon, and the other generals. Benjie's grandfather thanks him and asks for forgiveness for treating him so badly. Benjie is then reunited with his group, where Abe Sayyep appears and shoots Benjie's grandfather. Benjie jumps in front of his grandfather in order to save him.

He sees himself in heaven, and sees his great-grandfathers, who tell him that he did very well and it is not yet the time for him to die. He is soon revived, and the group returns home, where they celebrate their victory with a party.

Cast and characters

Main cast

• Vice Ganda as Private Benjamin "Benjie" Santos VIII
• Jimmy Santos as Benjamin "Bino" Santos VII
• Eddie Garcia as Minister Marshal Benjamin "Ben" Santos VI
• Derek Ramsay as Brandon Estolas
• Nikki Valdez as Lucresia Alcantara
• Kean Cipriano as Emerson Ecleo
• DJ Durano as Dominador "Dondi" Rosales
• Vandolph Quizon as Buhawi Manay
• Jojit Lorenzo as Joselito "Jojo/Jose" Makapagtagpo Jr./ Jose Remescal
• Ricky Rivero as Big Boy Carnate
• Mark Joseph Duran as Owl King

Supporting cast

• Carlos Agassi as Paul Marigma
• Bodie Cruz as George Carang
• Tutti Caringal as Ringo Daway
• Malou de Guzman as Lilibeth Santos
• Dennis Padilla as Bentot Santos
• Angelie Urquico as Jesamine Santos
• Abby Bautista as Anjemin Santos
• Tess Antonio as Lisa Santos
• Jasper Visaya as Benten Santos
• Rubi Rubi as Captain Tenille
• Andrew Wolff as Abu Sayaff
• Emilio Garcia as Billy Aladdin
• Romhel Valera as Primitivo

Special Participation

• Luis Manzano as Ericson
• Angelica Panganiban as Voice of Herself/ Brandon's Fiancé
• Yam Concepcion (cameo)

Reception

Release

The television trailer premiered in the talk show Gandang Gabi, Vice! where Vice Ganda is also the host. It was announced in the trailer that the film will premiere on October 12, 2011. However, during the premiere of No Other Woman, it was announced that the delayed premiere will be October 26, 2011.

Rating

It was graded "B" by the Cinema Evaluation Board of the Philippines.^[5]

Box Office

The film opened with PHP 23.6 million ticket sales during its first day and continued to break Philippine box-office records after grossing PHP 109 million on its fourth day of screening.^[6] After its seventh day on air, it reached the PHP 200 million mark.^[7] It broke the records set also by the previous Star Cinema-Viva Films produced film, No Other Woman.

Critical Reaction

Although the film is one of the highest-grossing films in the Philippines of all time, reviews of the film have ranged from mixed to negative with most web critics citing the movies overly simplistic story and outdated slapstick humor. However, many reviewers have noted that the film's saving grace was the sharp comedic timing of Vice Ganda and Nikki Valdez' brilliant comic performance.

Sequel

The sequel was introduced during a mid-credits scene.

On November 2011, ABS-CBN News reports that a sequel of the film, The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin was already in works and was planned to be released as early as 2013.^[8] Vice Ganda is confirmed to be back for the sequel. A later announcement made at It's Showtime revealed that the sequel will likely air in December 25, 2014. The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin finally premiered on December 25, 2014 as an official entry to the 40th Metro Manila Film Festival. ^[8]

Awards

References

External links

• Praybeyt Benjamin at the Internet Movie Database
• Praybeyt Benjamin at Box Office Mojo