Zoooma Gangster film from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The story is formulaic and the make-up of the characters is nothing new; stereotypes everywhere you look. But it takes place in Africa's third largest city, Kinshasa, which makes this a peculiar film already. Thugs steal gasoline, thugs try to steal it back. No moral compass whatsoever. You're forced to cheer for a bad guy because there are no good guys. There's plenty of sex which takes away from building a little more depth into the film but fast sex in such a bleak world is part of life in that country. Everything's all about the now and how to survive this life which has been dealt to these people. Some decent performances here and one supremely evil villain made me want to see how it all unfolds in the end. Filmmaking in such lands is not common so that makes this a curiosity to be sure. Not outstanding by any means but definitely worth a watch.6.1 / 10 stars--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener

eckersley-stephen Saw this purely by accident when woken in the early hours. Glad I was woken because this unexpectedly turned out to be one the best films I've seen for a while. The whole ambiance of the movie seems to capture the ugly underworld chaos of Kinshasa and the blatant racial tensions between the Angolans and Congolese. The opportunity for making money in Riva's world is all that matters and lives are cheap demonstrated with gritty realism where gangsters are out-gangstered (even by the authorities). Even the church wants a piece of the action (surprise, surprise!)Nice main sub-plot concerning Nora and her relationships with both her husband and Riva. The full on chase by Riva to get Nora as his woman is a little implausible at times but works well and gets across his obsession with the "woman of his dreams". All in all a truly riveting film about a subject and location rarely depicted.

Matthew Stechel Viva Riva works best as a film that will fill your eyes and I mean that in the best sense. The film looks really good from the costumes of the nattily dressed gangsters that Riva is trying to rip off to the complete flashiness of the art deco of the nightclubs that these guys rule over--the film is dripping with style. I should add that the movie is also dripping with violence also as the movie has quite a bit of violence even towards women in it throughout. Its not a film that spares someone from a beating just because she's a she.The movie's narrative on the other hand is pretty classic. Small time hustler and thief returns to hometown and promptly falls for gangster's girl. Gangster notices and gets upset. Meanwhile the thief is being tracked down and targeted for revenge by the guys he stole from...and those guys are not playing around, they're way more dangerous then the flashy gangster. Film works really well to a point. That point would be the last twenty or so minutes (maybe even ten minutes) where the plot threads that have been forming the whole time finally come together but they don't exactly merge the way you'd like them to. I don't know if it works exactly but i enjoyed it more or less even if its not a plot you haven't already seen in many a film before.Film is worth checking out tho if you're a fan of hard boiled crime stories or classic gangster cinema (by which i mean movies where the dames talk tougher then the anti heroes) Film does end kind of abruptly--there;s a big shootout (of course) but what happens at the end should've been made either more explicit or more final. Its interesting that i saw this not long before i saw "submarine" because while the two films have absolutely nothing in common--they both sort of suffer in comparison to other films in their genre but are both so so pretty to watch on their own that they almost make up for it in set design alone.

Vantheman1790 I got a chance to screen Viva Riva! recently and have to say that I had an incredible time watching this film. There are a lot of similarities to blaxploitation films of the 1970s which makes the film all the more interesting to watch. The film is action packed and suspenseful and really makes for a thrilling ride. Riva, played wonderfully by Patsha Bay, is full of grit and macho- ness that make him the most interesting character to watch. His chemistry with Nora (Manie Malone) is steamy and very sexually charged which is explored in a couple very seductive scenes. This film is somewhat of a guy's action movie with the overt sexuality of the characters and heavy use of fighting and gore. Overall, I would recommend this film to anybody looking for a truly gritty and bad ass film with a little more soul. The characters are strong and charismatic and ready to fight anyone who crosses their path!