JAGUN JAGUN - Putting Hollywood on the Map

I am not one to be easily swayed by peer pressure, social media, or things of similar nature, but I did succumb to the whims of seeing this movie. I just have a gigantic TV in the house for the sake of visitors because I am not much of a movie enthusiast, but I do love me a good movie or TV show. I sound like a broken record now don't I? xD.

The movie is about a young warrior played by Lateef Adedimeji, who leaves his village after being pillaged, to a war academy to learn how to be a better warrior and avenge the death of his father and people. Through his journey of learning the art of war, he finds love, fights for his life, discovers his enemy, and a whole lot of other drama. I don't want to speak any further because I'd definitely give spoilers, so I'd spare your guys the details. The story is not your typical war story, as it has a bit of the supernatural. Not bit, a lot of it. It is in the native language of one of the ethnic groups in Nigeria; Yoruba. This offers that much authenticity that one did appreciate.

I decided to start with the good part of the movie because I feel, for once, a Nollywood movie actually has many positives that outweigh the negatives. First and foremost, the costume is absolutely impressive. I can't speak highly enough of the makeup artists and the costumer makers. The attires, the looks, everything was elite. The acting was nothing short of brilliance, but then it is what you'd come to expect after looking at the cast of the movie. The head twitching was a nice touch too. So the sword fights were a big improvement compared to what we had seen in Nollywood movies before. It was a bit more real, and logical. The splash of blood, gore, and everything was not bad at all. Looking at where we've been, this is a significant improvement. It also portrayed our culture and history, for exactly what it is. One thing I loved this movie for was the use of indigenous language. There was no foreign language or whatnot. I think that puts us on a world stage. The twist at the end too was unprecedented. If you see a lot of Nollywood movies, you know that it is always easy to predict a movie before it even starts, but this is different. Oh, and the soundtrack too was perfecto.

Still much is to be expected. Some unrealistic scenes were evident. One that was evident was the scene where Gbotija, the protagonist of the story was in a coffin for a few days with no food or water and then got dumped into a river, but somehow he blasted his way out of the coffin. The idea, I will allow, but the graphics left much to be desired. A few graphic flaws and acting here and there littered the movie which were only a minute blemish to this masterpiece. Except for the significant plot twist, the plot wasn't too sophisticated. Still, credit to the directors.

Definitely worthy of streaming. Plot twists are usually a subtle addition to the movie to spice up the whole experience, but this movie took full advantage of a twist and delivered a cracking experience. It is available on Netflix, so that has you covered. Two hours of delight. I'd rate it 4.1 out of 5.