LISABI: THE UPRISING
WHY “LISABI:THE UPRISING” MIGHT JUST BE CINEMA STANDARD.
It is only perfect to understand that after such a praiseworthy act in https://realnollywood.com/?s=AYINLA (AYINLA) , which earned him a nomination in the 2021 AMAA awards in the “Best Actor in a leading role” category, Lateef Adedimeji was a right fit to take another role in acting an Egba story. Lisabi:The Uprising is out for viewing on Netflix, and it does tick some boxes, let’s talk about what is and what’s not.
The movie takes its story in the 18th Century oppresive Oyo Empire where neighboring Yoruba kingdoms are made to pay homage to the Alaafin who has his tribute collectors ravaging these kingdoms and looting them of their crops and goods; everyone must co-operate and bend to the dictates of the Alaafin if not death beckons.
The story begins when a neighboring king who had revolted against the Alaafin is brought to the Alaafin who then punishes him with death, this death sentence is to deter all neighboring kingdoms which planned to revolt against the Alaafin; making them have a rethink. In the face of increasing oppression from the Oyo Empire across all neighboring kingdoms, the tribute collectors would commit further atrocities which leads them to commiting heinous crimes in Egba. The story then takes a twist, when a young farmer, Lisabi has his best friend and his best friend’s fiancee killed on their wedding day. Vengeance must be served, but what would be the cost of vengeance? Lisabi:The Uprising streams on Netflix.
Well, one beautiful thing about this movie was that there was a story to tell, and it was beautifully told. The story telling was beautiful, the fact that the writer connected the happenings in the Oyo Empire and at the same time the happenings in the Egba kingdom in such a concurrent manner without us being lost was enjoyable. Also, the fact that the story developed as each scene progressed without any notable redundant or unecessary scene was plausible.
The rich Egba accent in the movie even made it more beautiful to watch as we were ears-filled with rich ancient dialogues, with adequate use of proverbs in the Egba accent. Only one person evidently struggled with the Egba accent and that was Kelvin Ikeduba, and it’s a little bit understandable
Hakeem Effects really does know his craft when it comes to make-up, the make-up was realistic, however, questions might be asked of the Director about the particular scene where Sokenu was stabbed and blood miraculously did not gush out.
The cinematography and SFX was beautiful to watch, it did feel like it would have been more pleasing to the eyes if it was being viewed in a cinema setting especially with the fighting scenes towards the end really showing proper work was done in the cinematography.
Lateef Adedimeji producing this movie shows career development for the multi-talented Actor, though it did feel that the production did not have much to work with as the location settings seemed microscale.
Notable cast in the movie are: Lateef Adedimeji, Adebimpe Oyebade, Ibrahim Chatta, Odunlade Adekola, Kevin Ikeduba, Ibrahim Yekini, Femi Adebayo,Olumide Oworu, Debo “Mr Macaroni” Adedayo, Juliana Olayode, and a few others.
Star Performer(s)- Lateef Adedimeji and Ibrahim Chatta
We were left at the edge of our seats with impeccable acting from these two brought their A-game to our screens. Ibrahim Chatta as the villain definitely made us hate his character as he acted his character well displaying heinous acts. And as the titular protagonist, Lateef Adedimeji made us fall in love with Lisabi.
The movie was released on Netflix for viewing on September 27, 2024 and with how the movie ends, we are made to know there is a second part coming January 2025, we anticipate.
From All of us at Real Nollywood, we rate the movie an 85%
