Gangs Of Lagos: Ratings And Review

Here is the Gangs Of Lagos ratings and review by Safarigirl.

I’m back with another review for the much anticipated movie, Gangs of Lagos (I don dey track this film since 2021, so, I’m glad it is now out). Been writing this review since Friday (abandoned it multiple times), but I’m trying to not be lazy, so, I must finish it.

The movie was directed by foremost writer and director, Jade Osiberu (Quentin Tarantino’s role model), and stars the likes of emerging Action Hero, Tobi Bakre, the sultry Bimbo Ademoye, femme extraordinaire, Adesua Etomi-Wellington and soft boy singer, Chike Osebuka.

Without further ado, let us go into the tale of Isale Eko and its many factions. Shout out to the criminals in Nigerian politics who make these recent stories possible, without you dirty, slimy cretins, where would we find inspiration to write truly repulsive characters?

Movie Title: Gangs of Lagos

Cast:
Tobi Bakre,
Adesua Etomi-Wellington,
Chike Osebuka,
Tayo Faniran,
Olarotimi Fakunle,
Bimbo Ademoye,
Chioma Chukwuka

Director: Jade Osiberu

Screenplay: Jade Osiberu, Kayode Jegede

Run Time: 2 Hrs.

Plot:

We see life on the streets of Isale Who through the eyes of 3 friends navigating their destinies in the murky streets.

Review:

Okay okay, now, let’s go into this movie and why it deserves all the accolades. First off, let’s get into the storyline, basically, viewers go through a timeline of when the trio of Obalola (Bakre), Gift/Ebun (Etomi-Wellington) and Ify (Osebuka), were kids, and how they were mini terrors, until fate brought them to the street king at the time, the Eleniyan, Ninalowo (Faniran), who took them in and had great plans for them, until life happened and those plans just didn’t come to light. They are transferred to a new Eleniyan, Kazeem (Fakunle), who doesn’t quite share the vision of Nino in their lives.

As earlier said, I thank the usual political criminals in Nigeria, whose lives inspire these stories, because you can basically pin an actual person to some of the key characters. Despite this movie being shot in 2021, it almost feels like watching a premonition of what took place in 2023 and the sentiments that abound….but not to digress, or ruin a good story for those who have not watched it, let me move on to the performances.

See, una see Tobo G, make una leave this Action Hero work for am. If you loved Tobi in Brotherhood, you’ll love him as much in Gangs of Lagos, he was so good as Obalola, he embodied the character, he portrayed the right emotions, his words were scathing when they needed to be and heavy when they needed to be, he was one of a number of stars, so, let me continue to the others. Rotimi Fakunle, if I see that man anywhere, I go dobale for am, because he was just the type of bad guy you hate. No fruity speeches, no charm, just straight up demon child from the abyss. He gave so much life to the character of Kazeem, not so much that you ended up wishing him well, but you’d just really hate his guts. Adesua Etomi-Wellington also pulled off another wonderful performance as Gift, when you consider she played that role 5 months after giving birth, you really have to cut cap for her. I’d seen a few people comparing her to some light skinned actress some weeks back and they dared to say Adesua couldn’t act, but I hope they keep their opinions to themselves after seeing her performance, the scene where she was required to be emotional was so powerful….I’ve watched Gangs of Lagos twice and both times I cried in those scenes, and Adesua’s performance was 30% responsible for the tears.

Tayo Faniran’s performance as Nino was also a joy to watch, to be honest, the last time I saw Tayo in a movie I was convinced he had lost his way to the set, because his performance was awful to say the least, so, I was a bit wary of what he would bring to this movie. I was pleasantly surprised to see him hold his own in such a powerful lineup, I’m happy he got this opportunity (he’s another one of my BB babies, so, I celebrate his wins). I do hope working on that set has helped him realise his strengths and how best to utilise them in his career.

Now, let us go to the Angela Bassett of the case, Chioma Chukwuka, whose monologue in the Church scene is possibly the most powerful thing you’ll see in a Nigerian movie in a while. Chioma came prepared to show us why she has spent over two decades in Nollywood, and she did not disappoint. Not many can pull off the monologue she did in that movie, and I do hope someone has dusted up a plaque with her name on it, because we will be expecting nothing less for something so powerful.

Chike my love, my first born, was so likeable in that movie. I have to admit, there are people I have some bias for in the industry, because I’ve followed their journeys from when they first started bustling to where they are now, and I appreciate the growth. Chike is one of such people (Tobi too), so, I was hyped to see him on the movie poster and he did not disappoint as Ify/Pana, the fun-loving, happy-go-lucky member of the trio.

Make I no spend too much time on the cast, let’s move on to other things that made the movie worth watching. There is nothing I enjoy more than the use of indigenous language in our movies and GOL went all out, it was so important that the language of the streets of Isale Eko be used in telling the story, and the writing fully did that. Another thing I appreciated, it may not have been so major, but the use of the Eyo masquerades in that movie, the symbolism attached to their purpose, was so thrilling. Everytime they showed up, I was giddy with excitement. Shout out to the writers for that brilliant input.

Cinematography was topnotch as usual, once again, it was greatly applied in the scene with Chioma’s monologue. The musical scores were also nice, I really enjoyed the song from Pana at the club, it’s a bop. Hopefully, there are plans to give us a full track from that.

Now, let’s get to some of the issues noticed, because while this could have easily been a 10/10 production, there are certain heavy gaffes that couldn’t be overlooked, chief of which is the subtitling, why was everything “in Yoruba”, even when it clearly wasn’t? Whoever was responsible for subtitling no try at all, the first fighting scene was also not giving what they were going for, something was just amiss, and then there was a scene in the end where the camera caught one of the crew members, and it wasn’t edited out.

Miss Jade did the business with Gangs of Lagos, I don’t know if I prefer it to Brotherhood, but she has clearly marked her name up there as someone who is ready to tackle Crime Drama in our movies instead of the usual comedy or romance that has littered the industry. I wish her and everyone involved in the movie even more inspiration to shoot unexplored stories.

Verdict: Definitely worth watching. Massive replay value.

Rating: 8.5/10

If you’ve watched the movie, tell us what you think about it. Did it have you in your feelings? Whose performance was your favourite? And what would you rate it?