Movie Review: Jagun Jagun raises the bar on portrayal of political malady

‘Jagun Jagun’, Femi Adebayo’s contribution to the current wave of cinematographic commentaries on political and leadership malady, heaves into sight with bar-raising quality all round. Released on Netfilx on August 10, it is the latest Nollywood movie to seriously morph arts and cinematography into a laudable tool for combating socio-political bugs.

Adebayo’s ‘Jagun Jagun’ seems to surpass his popular and epic movie ‘Agesinkole’. However, an avid viewer will reminisce that Agesinkole does provide a backdrop to ‘Jagun Jagun’ – while the former dwells on the ills of electoral malpractices and falsification, the latter strings the rancour between an over-ambitious warlord and an ambitious young warrior, who only seeks power.

Spanning across the kingdoms of Ota Efon, Aje, Modede, Iwon and Larinle, Jagun Jagun tells the story of a despotic warlord whose formidable army sends shivers down the spines of opposition.

Ogundiji is the caricature of a modern dictator, whose only lucrative profession is warfare. He has succeeded in snatching a lot of kingdoms for illegitimate rulers who sit at the helm of affairs in their respective kingdoms. However, revolution stares at Ogundiji when a reformist-turned-revolutionist leads the clarion call to put an end to dictatorship.

Love amidst chaos:

To all intents and purposes, love does exist amidst chaos. Love — storge, philia, and eros — is that motif that brings about the climax of the story. Young and ambitious Gbotija unfurls a tapestry of adventures to become the next big thing in the socio-political scenery but he survives a rollercoaster of hurdles via zest and love.

Thematic allure

Jagun Jagun’s epic 2 hours 15 minutes narrative reveals the concerns of its theme almost towards the end. And the take-away is simply one: wake-up. Femi Adebayo sends a message to teeming Nigerian youths to stay away from being elites’ devilish tools.

The ritual is consistent; the offsprings of political elites are kept far away from chaos and war, while the sons and daughters of nobody are cast away to battle the barrels and smoke of the gunpowder.
It’s indeed time to wake up!

Cinematographic allure

Taking viewers back to the ancient times when the beauty of the sheath and its sword dance on the war fronts is done with superb and brilliant effects. Set in an ancient Yoruba Odyssey, Jagun Jagun’s scenery and cinematography is the perfect match for the story. The stunts, emotions, emotions, slow-motion effects are all the artistic elements that will hold a viewer spellbound till the very last minute.

Cast allure

It still remains a wonder how Femi Adebayo pulls the magic of allocating a paltry one, two or at the most four acts to some of the finest of Nollywood actors — Odunlade Adekola, Muyiwa Ademola, Bimbo Ademoye, Ayo Ajewole, Yemi Elesho, Ganiu Nofiu, Lawal Ayisha and, most importantly, Ibrahim Chatta.

However, every actor ‘kills’ their ‘piece’ of the epic. Diction, body languages and emotions carry a wonderful bunch of energy.

The take-home

Excellent movie. However, Ibrahim Chatta’s brief show at the end of the movie seems a step into continuation. Maybe Jagun Jagun will have a sequel. Just maybe.

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Rating

Jagun Jagun has a bit of flaws. The introduction of the kingdoms makes it difficult for viewers to keep up with the story.

This infers that the recurring introduction of kingdoms can leave a viewer thinking where they all correlate. This is more pressing when big names represent the heads of the kingdoms.

Additionally, Jagun Jagun leaves some scenes hanging. Why Gbotija’s incantations defy him in the middle of the water is incomprehensible. What exactly is the role of the strange man (Ibraheem Chatta) who appears at the end of the movie? After all, this is a movie.

However, it deserves a 9/10.