London premiere of Collins Archie Pearce's Ibu in Sierra Leone

The much awaited Ibu in London premiered at the Odeon Cinema on Friday 25th October 2013. Although I was not available for the red carpet as I had to be at the BEFTA awards, the movie attracted one of the largest crowds in the history of Nollywood Premieres showing in the Odeon Cinema.

Amongst those that attended included HE Edward Mohammed Turray High Commissioner of Sierra Leone to the UK and Ireland, cast and cre of the movie including John Okafor aka Mr Ibu and Fatima Jabe. Others in attendance included members of the press, members of the business community, the Sierra Leone community in the UK and distinguished members of the public. Of couse members of the Nollywood UK community including Obi Emenloye, Theodora Ibekwe (who apparently had just picked up two awards at BEFTA), Nelson Spyke (who also picked an award at BEFTA in absentia) were all present to support Collins Archie Pearce.

The movie produced by Collins Pearce & directed by John Solo was shot in Freetown and features John Okafor reprising the infamous role of Mr. Ibu, Fatima Jabbe, Ifunanya Igwe, Alunette Karama, Jeneba Pearce, Salami Carew and other Nollywood stars.

The movie is about Mr. Ibu Okonkwo (John Okafor), a jobless, London-based professional boxer with a big mouth, who desperately wants to stage a comeback, but faces obstacles that centre around his nagging wife, Nina (fatima Jabbe), who he hates very much. Ibu leaves Nigeria to contest in a boxing match in Freetown and he is accompanied by his wife, which makes him very uncomfortable.

John Kingston (Desmond Finney) is a ruthless crime boss who for many years has been the chief mastermind behind the violent spate of criminal activities across Sierra Leone. JK, as he is widely known, has managed to stay one step ahead of the police in their desperate attempts to nail him, but the relentless pressure from the law enforcement body means he must go underground and lie low for a while to cool off the heat.

Now, after two years of inactivity, JK is beginning to feel the pinch. With a handful of his vicious henchmen raring to return to action, JK knows he must cook up a plan fast to get out of his premature retirement and back in business. The new plan requires something that carries less risk, less violence, less manipulation. Something that will turn in the Leones in their millions and leaves little room for suspicion – JK and his henchmen unveil the boxing scam as his new line of business.

The scam involves pairing a potential heavyweight basher and a pint-size, sure-to-lose lightweight in a fight that is heavily publicised. With the unsuspecting betting, the public throw their weight and money behind the bigger man. The fight is thrown by the heavyweight as pre-arranged by JK, and either of the two mismatched fighters later grab a 20% cut of the huge chunk of betting profit and leaves JK and his henchmen with the bigger slice. 

Those who refuse to play by JK’s rules are subdued by issuing death threats to their wives or closest family members. On boxing match day, Banky, thinking that the fight is already fixed, faces the menacing glare of IBU, with his usual confidence. There was the hidden suspense of Ibus daughter. You need to watch the movie. In the fight that ensues IBU gives Banky the beating of his life, and sets the stage for a head-on collision with JK and his bunch of trigger-happy thugs.

The movie was top class and the sound and picture quality were top class. Credit must be given to the Director John Solo, and the e D.O.P Raymond Finney for a job well done. Seeing that the people of Sierra Leone speak Creole, there was a need for subtitles and that again was very good although majority of the people could follow the movie without the subtitles.

I must commend the producer Collins Archie Pearce as this movie was well researched. Little things as the numbers of bullets in a gun being researched is commendable. (Those that watched the movie and those that would watch it understand what I am saying). The cast was on point. What can I say of Mr Ibu. People have known him for playing particular roles impressed me and the audience playing an unconventional roke and speaking impeccable English. Fatima Jabbe was just great. Having watched her in various movies, she impressed me that she is able to play various roles in different countries. Fatima well done! Desmond Finney, Ifunanya Igwe and the rest of the cast all blended together to produce a top class movie. The story line was easy to follow and the movie ended with an applause from those present.

I spoke to random people who watched the movie and some Nollywood UK industry members to seek their views about the movie. Everyone I spoke to was anonymous that it was a good movie. I even asked if people would do anything different and the response was unanimous in the negative.

Now to the crunch of the review, my score for the movie. I must say there were little issues here and there, but they can be overlooked as they did not really impact the movie. My role as a reviewer and critique is not to deliberately go fault finding, but to give an honest review of what I see. I intend to use this as a medium to encourage Nollywood attain excellence, so the small things can be forgiven.

That said, I score this movie a 10 out of a possible 10. This is a rare thing for me to do as the sound and picture quality must be right, there must be a story line, the cast must be right and bring together the story and there must be an ambiance in the movie. The question is would I recommend this movie. As those I interviewed at the end of the movie seem to be in one accord, I would recommend you to watch this movie whenever it is being shown again.

All that is left to say is well done to Collins and his team. Watch the trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11wuPqlBb4c