The Black Book review
The Black Book tells the story of Paul Edima who loses his only son to the cruel hands of a corrupt Nigerian Police unit, thereby leading him to take on a revenge mission.
This film was produced Anakle Films and stars Richard Mofe-Damijo, Ade Laoye, Shaffy Bello, Bimbo Manuel, Sam Dede, Patrick Doyle, Ikechukwu, Ireti Doyle and Denola Grey, amongst others.
I loved almost everything about this film but let’s delve into specifics:
1. Casting
Casting was fab — it was an all star cast but it wasn’t overwhelming because everyone was suited to their characters.
RMD was the star of the show for me. It may seem obvious because he’s always the star but this one felt different. It was a daring character and he delivered it perfectly. He has never played this type of role before and I’m super impressed at how versatile he is as an actor.
Bimbo Akintola really delivered. She was only in two or three scenes but we really felt her presence and it was powerful!
Sam Dede was also really good. This film feels like a comeback for him as he’s an OG Nollywood bad boy. It felt nostalgic watching him play this type of role again.
I also really enjoyed watching Kelechi Udegbe and Ikechukwu’s performances.
Ade Laoye is such a good actress but this role felt way too similar to the one she played in Ayinla, also with Bimbo Manuel, and I just couldn’t get it out of my head. It wasn’t particularly a stand out role for her.
Denola hmmm. I actually really like this guy as an actor and I don’t mind him being cast as a sniper but I don’t think he was properly utilized. The whole sniper business was random, he didn’t speak at all and was killed was too quickly, without a fight as well. Meh!
2. Cinematography
The cinematography was fantastic. The quality of the shots, the props, the sights and scenes of our beautiful Lagos, the yellow buses, the traffic, the chaos were all so beautifully captured. The views of Kaduna and those rocks were awesome.
3. Lighting
You could tell they paid great attention to the lighting in this film. The colour grading was superb. The film is very dark so they stuck to gray, black, yellow, blue, really bringing us into the world of Paul Edima and getting us to feel every emotion from every scene from pain to death to hope, etc.
4. Story
I really enjoyed the story. The film begins in present day, showing us the current, peaceful life of Paul Edima, just after a chaotic kidnapping in the middle of Lagos traffic. The story is well paced and every question you had in each scene was answered. The flashbacks were also aptly positioned.
I liked how they told the story and focused on the police brutality aspect of things. Imagine if Nigerian police were constantly killing the children of important people maybe things would be different.
I loved the combat throughout the film. I was fighting with them in spirit. Edima loved a spectacle. The police men on the express and the hired men tied to his home was just super cool.
Loved the end when all the women started shouting. No one expected the women to be hired assassins at all and that was a great addition.
I loved that they ended it where Vic found the black book and didn’t try to show that there was any sort of redemption because that’s the reality of the Nigerian society. Them being arrested is always just a show of how the system is working but we all know they’ll be released after being paid.
The dialogue wasn’t particularly special but it did what it needed to do. That “groundnut” line for Shaffy Bello made me cringe.
5. Scoring
I really loved the sound design. The sound in each scene was perfectly designed to suit the mood. When it needed to be silent it was, and then the right music came on. Really great song choices too.
Definitely an 8/10 for me. I really enjoyed the film and would watch again. The Black Book is available to watch now on Netflix.
