I just watched Femi Adebayo’s Jagun Jagun (The Warrior). It is a lovely movie and I am very much impressed by it.
I used to be a nasty local critic of all things Nollywood until not-so-long ago, when I started seeing the giant progressive strides being made. October 1 was the first movie to introduce me to the upgraded Nollywood, next was Ramsey Nouah’s ‘76. Though I did hear that before them there were The Figurine and one or two others.
Things that impressed me about this movie:
- The massacre in Keto Kingdom. Though they called it a war, all I saw were innocent villagers being killed. That scene where a mother was shot dead and her baby was crawling towards the dead woman’s corpse, was very real and emotional.
- After Agemo, the demon assassin, was incapacitated and Gbotija took off its mask to find out that his beloved Kitan was Agemo, is another emotion ridden scene.
- Lateef Adedimeji’s role as Gbotija is one of the best acting I’ve seen from him.
- The battle scenes, the fight scenes, the killing scenes, are so very well done that I couldn’t help but applaud. This is the one place that most Nollywood movies have difficulty (my opinion).
Shanty Town, as much as I loved it, disappointed me at the fight scenes. For Jagun Jagun, the fight choreography was on point. The blood spurts were nicely done and their (fighters) expressions were accurate. - I am happy with with the acting of all the veteran actors. They delivered and I must say that I am proud of the movie.
One part I actually found funny was that scene where all the old kings that Ogundiji had helped enthrone on stolen mandates were feasting and deliberating an issue. It reminded me of ECOWAS leaders, with Ogundiji symbolizing the Western countries and the old rulers representing the ECOWAS countries presidents forcing themselves on their respective countries.
This is a movie I’ll recommend to anyone who loves epic movies.
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