Remember I promised that I will do a review of 20 movies I love? These reviews are in no particular order.
This is one movie that took on the premise it is supposed to tackle, and it delivered without missing a bit. Gangs of Lagos, like its name is gory, there is a lot of violence, there is a lot of crime, there are a lot of betrayals, and on the other hand, we found human traits like loyalty, brotherhood, love, and friendship that stands the test of time. Eventually, I realized that these thugs; these dregs of the society are also human.
Obalola and his friends, Ify and Gift grew up in the crime-riddled streets of Isale-Eko and like those before them, they were eventually inducted into a life of crime and violence. Initially it looked like they were going to have a normal childhood; Obalola was adopted by Nino, a high ranking thug who encouraged him to go to school alongside his friends and Teni, Nino’s sidekick’s daughter whom Obalola had feelings for. But tragedy struck. Nino was killed and so were all the dreams he had for Obalola and his friends. They were eventually taken in by Kazeem, Nino’s sidekick who is greedy and unscrupulous, and they were re-introduced to the thug life.
Kazeem kills a rival gang leader and somehow pins it on Ify who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Ify was killed and Obalola, hell bent on revenge discovers a lot of hidden skeletons in Kazeem’s wardrobe. This further strengthens his resolve to avenge all his loved ones that were killed by Kazeem’s greed and inordinate ambition. He contacts and leads every gang in Lagos, who is tired of Kazeem’s greed to a bloody battle on the streets that can only end badly.
Now this is a movie with a lot of heart! Every single scene was crafted specially and with a lot of consideration and thoughts, so there was no scene that was carelessly done. The characters were also well thought out, although I will call Adesuwa Etomi-Wellington’s character as a miscast. I would have probably loved to see a Bimbo Ademoye in that part. I felt she was struggling with looking and sounding like a convincing hardened female thug, but her fighting scenes were realistic enough, and so was her romance with Yhemo Lee.
Tobi Bakre is on another level here. That guy is a good actor! It’s the fact that with his eyes, he can show a lot of emotions and still display a lot of heart. Need I say that he is the discovery of the year 2023? Yes please! Chioma Apotha delivers Igbo woman realness with her act. She ate up her scenes and spat it out! Especially the scene at the burial. She is such a brilliant actor and I am glad that she is getting her flowers now.
I don’t understand why the director felt we needed a close shot of Ekun’s fake beard? It looked realistic from afar. They should have left his original beard on his face and leave synthetic wigs for the original owners. And also worthy of note: Yhemo Lee carried a shovel to an “anything goes” fight! Helloh Hell!
The fighting scenes are so realistic. If you have seen how fights are done in Isale Eko, you will agree that they succeded in that, I just had a problem with the slow motions. It felt like that director didn’t trust the audience enough with the fight scenes, or that they didn’t have much footage of the fight and they wanted to stretch the scene as much as possible.
Cast members include Tobi Bakre, Adesuwa Etomi-Wellington, Chike Osebuka, Bimbo Ademoye, Olarotimi Fakunle, Chioma Apotha, Iyabo Ojo, Temidayo ‘Zlatan Ibile’ Omoniyi, Damilola Ogunsi, Wasiu Alabi ‘Pasuma’ Odetola, Adebowale ‘Mr Macaroni’ Adebayo, Maleek ‘Ikorodu Boys’ Sanni, Yvonne Jegede, Yinka Quadri, Ayo Lijadu, Toyin Abraham, Demi Banwo, Idowu ‘Yhemo Lee’ Adeyemi, Kamadudeen ‘Black Kamaru’ Yussuf, Funke Williams, etc.
8 stars.
My Headless Tales 