The movie Oga Detective premiered at the Broadway Theatre Barking on Saturday 1st August 2015. Prominent on the red carpet were HRH Theodora and Chief Oyebade, Francis Uwadi, Nonso Nwaiwu, John Remedy, Tolulope Yesufu, Toksy B, Ruke Amata, Malcolm A Benson, Danny Erskine, Mr and Mrs Osabutey, Toyin Moore, Fred Aseroma and Mrs Aseroma, Riyike Alayande, Florence Blaster Okonkwo, cast and crew and members of the public
Storyline: Mr Joe Jack (Samuel Fafunwora) drops dead from a heart attack after a sip of drink in the bar with friends (Sibngile and Jab). Two inexperienced detectives one from Africa DC Moja (Nonso Nwaiwu) and the other from the UK DC Cars (Vinga Lucia) are tasked by the Chief Superintendent Smith (Danny Erskine) with investigating why he died. They suspect poison but who would want to kill Mr. Joe?
According to the Director’s brief on the movie, Oga Detective is a movie that brings changes. It is a movie that is created to suit different ethnic groups. Oga detective is a film of suspense, a movie one cannot predict. It demands high concentration to understand the story which is the purpose of film and it is needed to make difference to other films the Nollywood industry is used to. Oga detective is a film created with various genre such as drama, comedy and action with a lot of funny clumsiness and slapstick. The shooting angles, the coloration and music are applied to suit the purpose of the Director.
That said I sat down and watched the movie and although I was MC for the night, I would be objective in my review. Although I passed this message at the beginning of the movie to the audience and it was re-echoed by the Director, Francis Uwadi, I am of the opinion that there should have been some form of disclaimer in the movie stating the intentions of the Director.
The movie was definitely not realistic as most of the things displayed in the movie were unrealistic. Probably that is what the Director referred to as Slapstick. I was confused how DC Moja (Nonso Nwaiwu) arrived from Nigeria and was talking with someone and the next thing we see is he is a DC. I was told by one of the cast that it was an exchange programme between the two nations. There was nothing to show that.
Let me look at some other incidents of concern, Would not look at everything but those that saw the premier can conclude themselves. Again looking at the styles of DC Moja beating people to get a confession and even clearing CCTV is unheard of in a country like the UK. As if that was not bad enough, the DC went on air and confessed to his style of getting evidence and was proud of it claiming he got results. I really did not understand the mind of the Director and where he was going with this.
The Nollywood industry is an evolving industry with foreign actors wanting a piece of the action by adding Nollywood to their cvs. Our premiers are beginning to attract people from various nationalities especially Britons so when we show a movie, people need to understand what is going on and things need to be real so people can appreciate what is happening and follow the movie.
If like the Director claimed that he wanted to do something different, if I were the one, after such scenes, I would put a disclaimer and probably an image of someone laughing to show that what just happened was not real, that would even add to the comedy. Calling the unprofessional forensics to a crime scene before the police, punching people or beating people without any wounds or blood all ended up confusing me. I have thought hard and fast and actually revisited the Director’s brief, but seriously speaking I don’t see how this movie at least not in the positive way is unique from what we are used to watching as Nollywood movies.
Cast: The movie boasted of Samuel Fafunwora, Nonso Nwaiwu, Vinga Lucia, Danny Erskine, Riyike Alayande, Nnena Ani, Posh D, Adaeze Etoniru, William Kemeh, Harmand Yogon, Mabel Osabutey, Gift Boyo, Fred Ebere and many more.
I think the cast list was too much and some members of the cast did not add value to the movie and could be done without. I am a fan of Nollywood collaborations, but again I believe the cast must understand the industry. Some of the foreigners of the cast just read their lines in my view and did not act their roles as I would have expected.
I would like to mention two people that impressed me. Firstly, a big thumbs up to Nnena Ani. I am informed that this is the first lead role she is playing in Nollywood. She was given what I consider to be a difficult part having to stammer and still act and did she do it well, o YES well done. If she continues in this way and keeps improving, she would be a star.
Nonso Nwaiwu, I did not expect any less from you. You are just a natural comedian and you showed that in this movie, You made the audience laugh and in my view you carried the whole movie with your character. On a lighter note watch what you eat and stop farting in public.
On the flip side, the nurse was more or less making noise and not acting (sorry to be blunt, but that is my job). Again I would like to see more acting and less of scripts from Samuel. The likes of the news casters and even the accompanying police officers and even DC Cars in my view don’t understand the concept of Nollywood and in my view crammed up their lines and did not really impress me. Would have wanted a touch of some kind of flavor from them.
Picture Quality: There were issues with the picture quality with some pictures outside the frames and some shaky. All I would like to say is that in future productions, the picture quality can be better. Having said this, it was not a bad attempt.
Sound Quality: In the premiere of this movie, a lot of the sound was distorted as there was a lot of external interference. I understand that post production costs a lot of money, but I believe the interference was too much that some post production would have helped. In future, in my view ,it is important to count costs before making a movie. People love to come and enjoy movies with clear sound. Unfortunately in this movie that was not the case.
Overall performance: We were informed by the Director Francis Uwadi that the movie is a television series and that over four hours of footage had to be edited to two and a half hours. I observed that important scenes were cut off and that for most of the movie, there was no correlation between acts. In other words, one thing did not lead to another as scenes were cut off. In some cases, it became obvious where the scenes had been cut as a character started something and half way when the audience was trying to follow that part of the story got terminated. I think that should be reviewed.
When I watch a movie, I expect to go away with a theme of some kind or a message. Getting half way through the movie such a message should be obvious. In this movie, I cannot tell what the theme or message if the movie was (Please correct me if I am wrong)
The question remains if I would recommend this movie. As a reviewer and critic, and without prejudice to the intents of the Director, I cannot recommend this movie. The Director may have his thoughts, but at the end of the day it is all about the audience not only understanding the storyline but being able to line up and align with the storyline. I agree there was some comedy in the movie and that is fine but the storyline itself is so unbelievable and unrealistic.
In my view, Nollywood is a brand and we should be telling stories that address issues that are relevant with the end of the story portraying a resolve to such issues. If police brutality was the theme of this movie and it definitely was not, it should end with the fact that it would not be tolerated. I appreciate the heart of the Director Francis, but I think your concept in this movie is faulted. One can attempt what the Director tried to achieve but with a clear and concise storyline that is realistic.
Watch the trailer:
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