It is fair to say 'Sione's Wedding' was a highly entertaining film which was well shot, acted, written and delivered. It may seem odd to say, but the great quality of the first Sione's weighs uncomfortably on the higher budget sequel.
'Sione's 2: Unfinished Business' is an incredibly well done film, again exceptionally written by Oscar Kightley and James Griffin and featuring some of New Zealand's greatest talents such as the beautiful Madeleine Sami, Teuila Blakely and Robbie Magasiva. The production values are high, each shot wonderfully crafted and shot with amazing quality while the sound is clear and fluent. The music is also pleasant and well fitted, the only problem is this film is the sequel to the first. The great thing about the first film is that it was so well written, the audience entered these characters lives, each character was so far developed - they were believable and relatable. 'Sione's 2' manages to stay constant to the first film with the four lead characters, but every other character was simply a characterture of their past self. The development process was so focused on the lead roles, the minor roles such as Sione, Bolo, Tania and Leilani were all left to stay out of the spotlight and become hard to understand and relate. The central story of the first film focused on Sione's dedication to his wife, yet for no reason the character of Sione has a major personality change and the second film stems from this, as though he was always this characterised. However as mentioned, Albert, Michael, Sefa and Stanley all remain well written, constant and most importantly; real. The writers haven't gone all wrong though on the minor characters, the hilarious Derek stands out, brilliantly acted by David Van Horn.
All in all, the only problem I have with this film is its at times faceless direction and most importantly the fact it is the sequel to 'Sione's Wedding'. If this film was a standalone, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it a far load more, not being preoccupied trying to decipher what the feeling I was getting throughout the whole film. Though not as good as the original, this film is still hugely enjoyable and a must for all Kiwi cinema goers.
'Sione's 2: Unfinished Business' is an incredibly well done film, again exceptionally written by Oscar Kightley and James Griffin and featuring some of New Zealand's greatest talents such as the beautiful Madeleine Sami, Teuila Blakely and Robbie Magasiva. The production values are high, each shot wonderfully crafted and shot with amazing quality while the sound is clear and fluent. The music is also pleasant and well fitted, the only problem is this film is the sequel to the first. The great thing about the first film is that it was so well written, the audience entered these characters lives, each character was so far developed - they were believable and relatable. 'Sione's 2' manages to stay constant to the first film with the four lead characters, but every other character was simply a characterture of their past self. The development process was so focused on the lead roles, the minor roles such as Sione, Bolo, Tania and Leilani were all left to stay out of the spotlight and become hard to understand and relate. The central story of the first film focused on Sione's dedication to his wife, yet for no reason the character of Sione has a major personality change and the second film stems from this, as though he was always this characterised. However as mentioned, Albert, Michael, Sefa and Stanley all remain well written, constant and most importantly; real. The writers haven't gone all wrong though on the minor characters, the hilarious Derek stands out, brilliantly acted by David Van Horn.
All in all, the only problem I have with this film is its at times faceless direction and most importantly the fact it is the sequel to 'Sione's Wedding'. If this film was a standalone, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it a far load more, not being preoccupied trying to decipher what the feeling I was getting throughout the whole film. Though not as good as the original, this film is still hugely enjoyable and a must for all Kiwi cinema goers.
