Clika
review by Bobby Blakey
As a lifelong hip hop fan, I have always been a fan of the music and culture. I dig getting introduced to artists and cultures of the genre that I haven’t before especially through film. The latest film Clika features Mexican-American artist JayDee teaming up with label Rancho Humilde for their first film venture. The film co-stars Concrete, DoKnow, Laura Lopez, Nana Ponceleon with Percy “Master P” Miller and Peter Greene and Eric Roberts from director Michael Greene. Could this film shine a light on the music of Rancho Humilde or will it fail to hit the right notes?
​
Clika follows aspiring small-town musician Chito, who is determined to make it big. When a clip of him performing one of his songs goes viral, he seizes the opportunity and pushes to carve out a place for himself in the new wave of Mexican-American music… and ultimately gets caught in a game more dangerous than anticipated. In a story of ambition, tradition, and self-discovery, Chito is ultimately forced to confront the choices he’s made in his relentless pursuit to reach his dream.
This is one of those films that shine a light on musicians that are big in certain circles but not as broad as others. The star JayDee along with co-star Uziel "Uzi" Pantoja are part of the group Herencia de Patrones along with Raúl Valencia and Omar Ruiz that are known as one of the pioneers’ groups of trap corridos. I knew nothing of the genre so was interested to see what it was all about.
To my surprise, while the film does have the backdrop of the music genre and Chito’s dream of doing the music, but it leans more into the drug world he is pulled into. The story is fine, but its has been done to death and finds itself in a more
generic place than a true focus on the music itself. I get it as it is trying to bring some depth and drama to the journey, but it hit every cliché you can think of in this story.
I don’t say this as a bash as I love these kinds of movies and found this one to be engaging enough throughout to entertain but would have loved to get to know more about this music and some bigger performances to really spotlight it. The cast are all decent enough, especially for a lot of them being first timers. It was nice seeing rap legend Master P in a small role even though it had zero to do with the music part of the story.
I had a different vision of what this film was going to be based on in the trailer, but it still works decently enough. It is one that does a good job shining a light on the culture issues and struggles of the Mexican-American lives and not just the negative places we are usually forced into. I applaud the movie for trying to elevate this culture of music to a mass audience, but I’m not sure it will connect with as many as it hoped.
Decide for yourself and check out Clika available now on digital, DVD and streaming on Netflix from Sony Home Entertainment.