Summary
There’s plenty on paper for Tòkunbò, but it’s poorly delivered, with plenty of recognizable shortcuts in the production and story.
The opening ten minutes of Tòkunbò told me everything I needed to know about the Nigerian movie. The presentation and promotion appear gritty and dark, but this action-thriller is not as serious as it claims.
Tòkunbò, an ex-car smuggler, is given three hours to deliver a government official’s daughter to her captor. He needs the money because his newborn child needs a hospital procedure as he is dying.
Circulating the plot is a conversation on politics. The government official is in the spotlight from her peers after promising vast, sweeping changes to the country’s monetary policies. Her changes involve cryptocurrency, and she insists she will implement them.
Following on from this, her daughter happens to be part of a kidnapping plot.
It does not take being a movie analyst to understand where the story is moving here.
On paper, Tòkunbò has everything: a Taken-inspired storyline, family on the line, and that Nigerian flare. However, it falls flat in its direction.
I’m unaware of Ramsey Nouah’s work, the director behind this feature, so maybe this is his style. The production has an edge of grittiness to it, but it feels cheap at the same time. Without spoiling, the final act assumes plenty of action and choreography, but it feels staggered and slow.
It may be a budgetary issue, as I noticed throughout the movie that the editing took obvious shortcuts to make a moving development work. It did not feel as seamless as the delivery of the scenes suggested.
Another niggle is the lead character; I’m unsure if Tòkunbò is miscast or was instructed incorrectly. It’s difficult to assert whether he takes his life seriously. He is a taxi driver trying to make ends meet but has also planted himself in a life of crime. But as a family man, he’s far too disconnected from his family, and the entire point of the movie is that he’s supposed to be desperate to save them.
Maybe the comedy did not land, but a desperate man in an action-thriller requires a personality that sets the film’s tone. When amongst crime lords, a kidnapping plot, and a twisted political conspiracy, there has to be a character that merges with the theme.
This character is void of any specific personality.
With B-movie practices straight out of film college, the Nigerian movie lulls into a sleepy experience. I had to earnestly stay alert despite the amateurishness and slow-moving pace of the plot. I wanted to like it. I love the African slate on offer on Netflix, but once I reached the final act, I knew that time had run out for it to be saved.
There’s a lesson here; your film may have the appearance of being dark and gritty. It may delve into a conspiratorial attitude. It may have the enhancement of action scenes. But, if they are not delivered, appearance means nothing. That’s all I can say about Tòkunbò.
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