''The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin'' is a 2014 Philippine

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

written and directed by

Wenn V. Deramas Edwin Villanes Deramas (September 15, 1966 – February 29, 2016), more commonly known as Direk Wenn or Wenn V. Deramas, was a Filipino film and TV director and screenwriter. Education Deramas was a graduate of University of Santo Tomas with ...

. It is the sequel to ''

The Unkabogable Praybeyt Benjamin ''The Unkabogable Praybeyt Benjamin'' (also known as ''Praybeyt Benjamin'') is a 2011 Filipino action, comedy, and parody film directed by Wenn V. Deramas. It stars Vice Ganda in the title role, alongside Eddie Garcia, Nikki Valdez, Vandolph Qui ...

''. The film is one of the official entries to the

40th Metro Manila Film Festival The 40th Metro Manila Film Festival was the edition of the annual film festival that is held in Metro Manila, Philippines and is organized by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA). During the film festival, no foreign films are shown in Ph ...

Vice Ganda Jose Marie Borja Viceral (born March 31, 1976), popularly known as Vice Ganda (; ), is a Filipino comedian, talk show host, television presenter, actor, entrepreneur, and singer. He is a regular host on ABS-CBN's noontime variety show '' It's ...

reprised his role as Colonel Benjamin "Benjie" Santos VIII together with a supporting cast

Richard Yap Richard Edison Uy Yap (born May 18, 1967) is a Filipino actor, singer, model and businessman of Chinese descent. He is best known for portraying Richard "Sir Chief" Lim in ''Be Careful with My Heart'' and "Papa Chen" in ''My Binondo Girl''. ...

Tom Rodriguez Bartolome Alberto Mott (born October 1, 1987), known professionally as Tom Rodriguez, is a Filipino-American model, actor, host and singer. Biography Rodriguez is from Catbalogan, Samar. He was born in Subic Naval Base in Zambales to an Ameri ...

Bimby Yap James Carlos "Bimby" Aquino Yap Jr. (born April 19, 2007) is a Filipinos, Filipino media personality and child actor. He made his film debut in ''My Little Bossings'' (2013). Early life Yap was born to television host and actress Kris Aquino a ...

and introducing

Alex Gonzaga Catherine Cruz Gonzaga-Morada (; born Catherine Cruz Gonzaga; January 16, 1988), professionally known as Alex Gonzaga, is a Filipino media personality, comedienne, businesswoman, host, singer and actress. Her self-titled YouTube channel is one ...

with the special participation of

Eddie Garcia Eduardo Verchez Garcia (; May 2, 1929 – June 20, 2019), known colloquially as Manoy, was a Filipino actor, television personality, film director and producer. With almost 600 film and television roles and a career spanning seven decades, he ...

Plot

After defeating the terrorists led by Billy Aladdin, the once humble Private Benjamin (

) has become the Philippines' unkabogable soldier and a worldwide sensation. One day in the military headquarters, the zombies came to attack the terrorist and Benjamin must face them using vegetable attack (ala

Plants vs. Zombies ''Plants vs. Zombies'' is a video game franchise developed by PopCap Games, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts (EA). The series follows the affiliates of David "Crazy Dave" Blazing as they use his plants to defend against a zombie invasion, le ...

). He quickly rises through the ranks and is promoted to Colonel. To prepare him better, Benjamin is assigned under a new general, Wilson Chua (

). However, Private Benjamin committed a big mistake. Benjamin is about to be dismissed from service when Gen. Wilson Chua saves him by giving him a mission – to be the private security of a brat kid Bimbee (

). As he watches over Bimbee, Benjamin finds himself clashing with Misty (Rhed Bustamante), General Chua's daughter, and the meddlesome housemaid Gundina (

). However, as he gets to know Bimbee more, he learns that Bimbee is a kid deprived of love from family – something that he has ignored in his quest to be on top again. Terrorists led by Jan Jaranjan (

) threaten the government to detonate the bomb hidden in a mall. Most action sequences reference various video games and mobile app games such as

when Benjie and his friends are fighting against the zombies in Paris using gardening weapons, Just Dance when Benjie and his friends as well as General Chua and company does performing the moves in order to stop the bomb from detonating,

Crisis Zone ''Crisis Zone'' is a spin-off of the ''Time Crisis'' arcade shooters, released on 29 March 1999 in the arcades. Plot In 2000, the Garland Corporation opens a new complex known as "Garland Square" on the outskirts of London. Full of modern ameniti ...

when Benjie and his friends fight Janranjan and his men using machine guns used in the arcade games, and the

Street Fighter , commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...

series when Benjie defeats Jaranjan using a parody version of Ryu's

Tatsumaki Sempuu Kyaku is a fictional Japanese fighting character and the main protagonist and master of ceremony of Capcom's '' Street Fighter'' series. Having premiered in the first '' Street Fighter'' in 1987, Ryu appears as the game's lead character alongside ...

in three hits.

Cast of characters

Main cast

as Colonel Benjamin "Ben G" Santos VIII

Supporting cast

as Commanding General Wilson Chua *

as Jan Jaranjan *

Bimby Aquino Yap James Carlos "Bimby" Aquino Yap Jr. (born April 19, 2007) is a Filipino media personality and child actor. He made his film debut in ''My Little Bossings'' (2013). Early life Yap was born to television host and actress Kris Aquino and basketb ...

as Bimbee Pineda Chua *

as Gundina Galamiton *

Al Tantay Alfredo Tantay (born March 15, 1956), also known by his stage name Al Tantay, is a Filipino film actor, comedian, director and the former husband of Rio Locsin. He was discovered by Joey Gosiengfiao and was launched through the Regal Film ...

as Benjamin "Ben" Santos VII *

as General Benjamin "Bino" Santos VI *

Vandolph Quizon Vandolph Lacsamana Quizon (born; May 7, 1984) is a Filipino actor, comedian and politician. He also serves as a councilor of Parañaque from the 1st district since 2016. Personal life He is the only son of comedian Dolphy with actress-p ...

as Buhawi Manay *

Nikki Valdez Maria Alinica "Nikki" Valdez-Garcia (born January 25, 1979) is a Filipina actress and singer. Career In the Philippine music scene she was known for a ballad titled "Meron Ba?", composed for the soundtrack of ''G-Mik the Movie'' and ''Trip t ...

as Lucresia Alcantara *

Kean Cipriano Kean Edward Uson Cipriano (born June 11, 1987 in Pasig City) is a Filipino singer, composer, actor, music video director, and musician. He is well known as the former vocalist of pop-rock band Callalily, and the founder of his own record label O ...

as Emerson Ecleo *

Anja Aguilar Angellie G. Urquico, better known by her stage name Anja Aguilar, is a Filipina actress and recording artist and Grand Winner of ''Little Big Star Season 2'' in 2006. Former member of Pop Girls from VIVA Records. Life and career Aguilar hails ...

as Jesamine Santos *

DJ Durano Thaddeus Presbitero Durano Jr. (born August 17, 1974), also known as his stage name DJ Durano, is a Filipino actor, television personality, singer and recording artist. His career in entertainment started as part of '' That's Entertainment'' ...

as Dominador "Dondi" Rosales *Ricky Rivero as Big Boy Carnate *

Dennis Padilla Dennis Esteban Dominguez Baldivia (born February 9, 1962), popularly known as Dennis Padilla (), is a Filipino comedian, TV host, radio broadcaster and actor. He is the son of the late Dencio Padilla, and the father of actress Julia Barretto. H ...

as Bentot Santos *

Malou de Guzman Malou de Guzman (born August 24, 1958) is a Filipina Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all t ...

as Lilibeth Santos * Abby Bautista as Anjemin Santos * Rhed Bustamante as Misty Chua *Gerard Garcia as Inspector Bautista * Kurt Ong as Inspector Realado *

David Licauco David Alexander Sy Licauco (born June 15, 1994), more popularly known as David Licauco (), is a Filipino actor and model. He is known for portraying Malik for GMA television drama ''Mulawin vs. Ravena'' (2017) and Fidel de los Reyes y Maglipo ...

as Terrorist * Rubi Rubi as Captain Tenille * Atak Araña as Zak Apron

Cameo

Angel Locsin Angelica Locsin Colmenares (born April 23, 1985) is a Filipino actress and humanitarian. She is known for her dramatic roles and portrayals of heroines and mythological characters in film and television. She is a recipient of various accolades ...

as young Lilibeth Santos *

Kris Aquino Kristina Bernadette Cojuangco Aquino (born February 14, 1971), professionally known as Kris Aquino (), is a Filipino television host, actress, producer, socialite and businesswoman. Dubbed as Philippine's "Queen of All Media", Aquino has hos ...

as Krissy (Not to be confused as Krissy Achino) *Darla Sauler as Darla *

Luis Manzano Luis Philippe Santos Manzano (; born April 21, 1981), also known by his nickname Lucky, is a Filipino-American TV host, actor, comedian, VJ, and model. He is the son of actors Edu Manzano and Vilma Santos. He is best known for his roles in th ...

as young Benjamin "Ben" Santos VII * James Reid as James *

Donnalyn Bartolome Donnalyn Bartolome(born July 9, 1994) is a Filipino internet personality An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or d ...

as herself

Reception

Box office

MMDA Chairman

Francis Tolentino Francis N Tolentino (; is a Filipino politician and lawyer serving as a Senator since 2019. He served as Chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) from 2010 to 2015 and was the Mayor of Tagaytay from 1995 to 2004. For th ...

, revealed that ''The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin'' topped the box office record of the

's opening day on December 25, 2014 in a radio interview in DZMM. ''Praybeyt Benjamin'' was ahead of fellow entrants, ''

My Big Bossing's Adventures ''My Big Bossing'' is a Filipino comedy anthology film starring Vic Sotto, Ryzza Mae Dizon and Marian Rivera. The standalone sequel to the 2013 family film ''My Little Bossings'', it is one of the official entries of the 40th Metro Manila Film ...

'' and ''

Feng Shui 2 ''Feng Shui 2'' (stylized ''Feng Shui 二'') is a 2014 Philippine supernatural horror film. It is a sequel to the first film from 2004. Kris Aquino reprises her role as Joy Ramirez and Coco Martin plays Lester Anonuevo, the new owner of the ' ...

'' ranked second and third respectively in terms of box office record on the opening day of the film festival. Tolentino did not state the official figures of the sales on the opening day of the film festival during the said interview. During her stint at '' The Buzz'' where is she is one of the hosts, Kris Aquino said that ''The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin'' recorded P172 million worth of box office receipts as of 3:00 pm PST December 28, 2014. In a January 15, 2015 episode of Vice Ganda's variety show, '' It's Showtime'', he announced that the movie closed the day before with P435 million earnings, surpassing the film '' Starting Over Again'' in terms of domestic earnings. He now hold the distinction of starring in 7 of the 20 highest-grossing films in the Philippines of all time.

Critical response

Despite being a high-grossing film at the

, reception for ''The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin'' generally received negative reviews. Zig Marasigan of Rappler, described the film in his movie review as "a brainless, hyper-stylized and utterly ridiculous family comedy". Marasigan criticized ''Praybeyt Benjamin'' for "unashamedly made for profit". He also described the film as "cheap, tacky and absolutely nonsensical. But say what you might about the film's level of intellectualism (or lack thereof), it is at least honest about its intentions". Marasigan however acknowledged that the film fulfilled its purpose, to primarily entertain its target audience. Bubbles Salvador at the Philippine Entertainment Portal, has a more positive review for the film. While Salvador took note of one loophole in the plot of the film - namely the lack of resolution between Bimbee and his father, with the former feeling unloved by the latter, Salvador described Praybeyt Benjamin 2 as "worth of one's couple of hours at the cinema this holiday season, if one is not looking for a lesson in history, a love story, or a good scare, and would settle for a light and funny action comedy".

Planned sequel

A third film was announced as it is officially part of the 46th Metro Manila Film Festival.

was expected to reprise his role. Its entry in the film festival was based on its script. 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 The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

as well as uncertainties caused by the non-renewal of ABS-CBN's broadcast franchise. As a script-based submission, the ''Praybeyt Benjamin'' film would have to be produced by November 30, 2020. The film was not among the final ten official entries of the film festival announced in November 2020 . As of 2022, no further updates for the film and later both will be starring on upcoming MMFF 2022 film called '' Partners in Crime.''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin, The 2014 films Philippine Christmas films 2010s fantasy comedy films Philippine fantasy comedy films Philippine sequel films Star Cinema films Viva Films films Films set in Metro Manila Films directed by Wenn V. Deramas Philippine parody films 2010s Christmas films 2010s parody films Films about terrorism in Asia Zombie comedy films Philippine LGBT-related films 2014 LGBT-related films