Nation Under Siege

I saw an article in the Guardian about this film; just click here if you are interested. Moving on to the review, it was really good however it started off with a bang (literally) but then became very slow and uninteresting before it finally hit its stride. The plot was engaging, suspenseful and very thrilling; I didn’t see the end coming at all. The some of the characters were very interesting but some were either boring (the entire police force) or unnecessary. All the bad aspects to me though were eclipsed by the storyline when it got down to the nitty-gritty.

The story is fragmented; it could have either followed the terrorist group (Haram Boko? Really?) in their exploits and explored their motivations, Majid Michel’s plans and background, the police force racing to stop the bombing or the story of the prostitute and the terrorist but instead it choose to do all of them and with so many threads, the cloth became thin. What the storyline most focused on was the terrorist in training and the prostitute and that was the one that is quite frankly the most interesting and innovative. The focus on the prostitute was superb although at first I was wondering what she had to do with the story but as it was slowly revealed I agreed with the way it played out. The ending was also extremely satisfying, everyone getting their just desserts with a mystery to solve. On the other hand, some plotlines were forgotten/dropped and never spoken of again; there were random scenes which while touching and thought-provoking did not matter to the story at all especially ones to do with the killings done by Haram Boko members.

Pascal Amanfo was both actor and director, and I give him a big hand. As an actor, he was superb; his character was rich, actually had characterization and really communicated with the audience. When you see him first as a killer and future terrorist, you hate him but as the character journeys through the story, he seems more human and becomes less a hateful figure and more a person who has done hateful things. As a director, he was not as good. My sister refuses to watch this film because the first parts were so boring so that was a failing. The acting overall was good, and I was fairly impressed with Zynenell Lydia Zuh. She was emotive and worked hard to prevent her character from becoming some sort of preacher person or poor woe is me type. Her characterization was good, and she improved on an already great character. Majid Michel has being taking some very challenging roles and he continues to grow in them.

The audio and visuals were crisp and clear. The visual and sound effects were all great except for the fire/bomb blast effect. Those weren’t great but I continue to congratulate nollywood on their advancements although I can’t help but ask how they are financing it, Hollywood spends so much on special effects so whetin we dey do?

In conclusion, I am choosing to review this movie on its own merit rather than how it portrays events or people and I would advise that those who are easily disturbed by violence should stay away from this film. Also those that are easily bored. Otherwise it’s a very good suspenseful movie. In other news, the Irokotv comments may now need moderation cos while there are a lot of comments on faults of this movie there is also a lot of tribalism?nationalism?countryism? insults flying around. Also, the girl die abi she no die? I have solved it but can you?