The Unkabogable Praybeyt Benjamin

The Unkabogable: Praybeyt Benjamin is a 2011 Filipino action spoof comedy film starring Eddie Garcia, Nikki Valdez, Vice Ganda, Vandolph Quizon, Derek Ramsay and Jimmy Santos. It was written and directed by Wenn V. Deramas.[2][3]

The Unkabogable:
Praybeyt Benjamin
Theatrical movie poster
Directed byWenn Deramas
Produced by
Screenplay by
  • Keiko A. Aquino
  • Wenn Deramas
Story byWenn Deramas
Starring
Music byVincent de Jesus
CinematographyElmer Despa
Edited byMarya Ignacio
Production
company
Distributed by
Release date
  • October 26, 2011 (2011-10-26)
CountryPhilippines
LanguageFilipino
Box office₱332 million[1] (US$6.5 million)

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

It starts in the Philippines as Lapu-Lapu fights Ferdinand Magellan and wins the fierce battle defeating Magellan in 1521. Later in 1898, as the Katipunans are salvaged their graceful solitary friends and fight those bad guys. In the Japanese War in 1942, the battle cry settled in as the other Japanese went to attack the terrorists.

In the present day, 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), gives being a military soldier to be what he wants to be, a scientist and an inventor. Benjie's grandfather does not agree with his decision and Benjie and his immediate family were forced to leave his grandfather's house. 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 Utot-gun (lit. 'Fart gun'), a fan that shoots bullets, and a tiara that can potentially kill thousands of people.

A few years later they were invited to his grandfather's 75th birthday by relatives. His grandfather finds out Benjie is gay. They were asked to leave and to never show themselves again and declares them a disgrace to the Santos family.

A terrorist organization, Bandidos International starts a civil war in the Philippines and kidnaps Benjie's grandfather and other high-ranking officials. A leader of the group named Abe Sayyep claims they have taken over the whole country. The Philippine government introduced conscription as part of their fight against the terrorist forcing Benjie to enlist in place of his ailing father. In the camp, Benjie meets other members of his platoon. He was later introduced to his group's commander Brandon Estolas (Derek Ramsay) and became secretly infatuated with him. Benjie's group initially performs poorly in training and was in danger of being dissolved. 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 him dancing lewdly and effeminately.

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 to show solidarity. They left the army, and while travelling a wooded area stumbled upon the location of the Bandidos International's base by accident. They went back to camp to inform the High General but the official won't believe the group. The whole camp believed the real enemy base was in Tanay, based on the army's gathered information and decided to attack there instead where they were later 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—the group's former commander in the army. They plan to break in the enemy camp by dressing up as women to trick the guards into letting them inside their base. Once inside, the group kills many terrorists using the inventions of Benjie's father. Benjie manages to find 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 attempts to shoot Benjie's grandfather. Benjie takes the bullet to save his grandfather resulting to his death.

Both him and Abe Sayyep is dead. In the afterlife, Benjie meets his ancestors who tells him that they are proud of him and tells him that it was not yet time for him to die. He is soon revived, and the group returns home, where they celebrate their victory with a party. Benjie tells his feelings for Brandon but Brandon rejected him saying he already has a fiancé, a woman who looks exactly like him.

Cast and characters

Main cast

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

Filming

The movie was filmed in half of 2010 and wrapped up a month later.

Camera

Filmakers are using retro movie cameras rather than modern movie cameras.

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.

Sequels

The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin
Main article: The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin

The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin finally premiered on December 25, 2014 as an official entry to the 40th Metro Manila Film Festival.

The sequel was introduced during a mid-credits scene.

In 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 on December 25, 2014.[8]

Third Praybeyt Benjamin film

A third film was announced as it is officially part of the 46th Metro Manila Film Festival. Vice Ganda was expected to reprise his role. Its entry in the film festival was based on its script.[9]Filming for the Praybeyt Benjamin sequel has yet to take place as of October 2020 due to logistics issue caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as uncertainties caused by the non-renewal of ABS-CBN's broadcast franchise.[10][11] As a script-based submission, the Praybeyt Benjamin film would have to be produced by November 30, 2020.[11] The film was not among the final ten official entries of the film festival announced in November 2020.

Awards
Year Award-Giving Body Category Recipient Result
2012 GMMSF Box-Office Entertainment Awards[12] Phenomenal Box Office Star Vice Ganda Won
Most Popular Film DirectorWenn DeramasWon
Most Popular ScreenwriterWenn Deramas and Keiko AquinoWon

References
  1. The Unkabogable Praybeyt Benjamin in Box Office Mojo
  2. Wenn Deramas wants no part in MMFF movie Enteng ng Ina Mo accessed October 3, 2011
  3. Sucaldito-defends-Kean-Cipriano-for-admitting-he-hasnt-slept-with-a-gay Vice Ganda defends Kean Cipriano for admitting he hasn't slept with a gay accessed October 3, 2011
  4. Praybeyt Benjamin, highest-grossing film!. Viva.com.ph (2011-11-09). Retrieved on 2011-12-01.
  5. PEP REVIEW: Vice Ganda offers a consistent rib tickler through ''Praybeyt Benjamin''. Pep.ph (2011-10-27). Retrieved on 2011-12-01.
  6. 'Praybeyt Benjamin' earns P110-M in 4 days. abs-cbnNEWS.com. October 30, 2011
  7. PEP Exclusive Vice Ganda on Praybeyt Benjamin's earnings of P200 million in eight days: "Alam kong maghi-hit ang movie, pero hindi ganung kalala!". Pep.ph. November 5, 2011
  8. 'Praybeyt Benjamin,' niluluto na ang part 2. abs-cbnnews. November 17, 2011
  9. News, ABS-CBN. "MMFF names first 4 official entries for 2020; 'Praybeyt Benjamin 3' confirmed". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  10. Policarpio, Allan (July 28, 2020). "Fear, uncertainty take a toll on Vice Ganda's performance". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  11. Gabinete, Jojo (October 28, 2020). "Praybeyt Benjamin 3, hindi aabot sa MMFF 2020? KimJe movie, makapasok kaya sa MMFF?" [Praybeyt Benjamin 3, could not make it in time for MMFF 2020? KimJe movie, could be included in MMFF?] (in Tagalog and English). Philippine Entertainment Portal, Inc. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  12. "Vice Ganda named Phenomenal Box-Office Star; Derek Ramsay is Box-Office King while Anne Curtis and Cristine Reyes share Box-Office Queen title" Archived 2015-07-01 at the Wayback Machine. Pep.ph. Retrieved 2014-05-20.
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