by Akinwande Jordan
We have been clamoring for a decent piece of cinema worthy of appraisal and artistic dissection for ages -but the release of Loukman Ali’s brotherhood might be the closest we’ll get to that. It just might be the film that propels whatever ingenuity is embedded in our indigenous film-makers. It is not the greatest film in modern Nollywood – it is not even close but it is probably one of the few films you’ll deem worthy of mentioning when you speak of films that don’t seek to ultimately take its audience for granted. We have the classics here – good cop, bad brother, gun fights and gangsters.
Starring former reality tv star Tobi Bakre, Folarin ‘’Falz’’ Falana, Bright ‘’Basketmouth” Okpocha”, Toni Tones, the legendary Sam Dede and a host of others. Brotherhood is a Nigerian crime-action thriller that follows the lives of the Adetula twins named Wale (Tobi Bakre) and Akin (Falz) who grow up to find themselves on the extreme ends of morality with Akin going on to join law enforcement while Wale joins a gang of robbers. It’s a classic collage of tropes and cliches we love to see on our screens – family discord, police procedurals and heists. And it does a pretty decent job at being clear-cut about the plot’s essence and even what genre we are watching here. The cinematography is meritorious; a lot of the action sequences were pretty well-shot, giving us a sense of disorder and clarity simultaneously. There is also fairly decent use of lighting beyond the illumination of a set, and for once, I am personally happy to see the third mainland bridge being used in a manner other than being a transitory monument.
Falz is unsurprisingly great here, I say unsurprisingly because I know he is capable of more despite the typecasting – unlike his frequent comedic roles, which often come off as forced, he delivers a performance that envelopes his rapper-comedian persona which can be difficult to shed in the eyes of an audience familiar with said persona. OC Ukeje should consider playing a murderous psychopath at some point for it is time to stop playing a lover boy. Toni Tones channelled her inner Elvira Hancock with a machine gun (although I think someone should be queried for that hairstyle she had on) and Tobi Bakre is … good, who would have thought?
The story isn’t unique or a subversive take on the crime genre but you come to care for both Wale and Akin as characters, especially when they have final stand-off. It reminded me of Michael Mann’s Heat (not on a qualitative level) but with a familial twist and that might be the major saving grace of this film. But it is not without its flaws – although it is no news that pulling off VFX/SFX is a tasking feat in Nigeria given the lack of technical know-how and resources. I’m sure the team worked their hardest to do whatever they can but it was not enough, and it felt dated at some point (blood splattering on screen is not something that should be happening in 2022). The dialogue needed a lot of work, some parts were too convoluted and some parts were unnecessarily sparse. Spectacles and gunfights can’t overshadow less-than-average writing all the time, we have good screenwriters out there and we need to start seeking them out instead of recycling the same old formulaic process.
Overall, the film is a minute step in the right direction; a good film, good enough to be paid attention to. Hopefully good enough to catalyze the need for more films like this but with more intentionality and less objectively recognizable flaws.
