THE SET UP 2
1. Nice kickboxing scenes, they showed Nollywood has improved in shooting combat scenes.
2. Great Cinematography and Screenplay, the motion picture was excellent
3. Though the storyline could be said to have some few loop holes, however, this doesn't stop it from getting an A. It was clear the writer wanted to get us intellectually stimulated
4. It was nice to see some comic relief at some intervals despite being a tragedy and action thriller.
1. Unnecessary fight scenes. If we want to see a martial arts movie, we know where and when to, there were needless fight scenes not really relevant to some parts of the storyline.
2. The scene that had Madame smuggled out of the prison wasn't properly thought through. How does all that shooting happen in a prison without all other wardens coming out? Or were the wardens contracted to be quiet whilst illegal shooting was going on in the prison? Well, the writer never specified that.
3. The scene that had Chike and Obiora embark on their first mission by swimming in the sea to the offshores was too flaccid. How they had change of clothing from the sea to the offshore seemed miraculous. That's an easy mistake to make.
A thriller to see if you haven't.
PLOT
The Set Up Part 2 revolves around Chike (Adesua Etomi), Grace (Kehinde Bankole) and Usi (Nancy Isime). The film opens with Grace happily married to her then Pastor boyfriend, Pastor Dimeji and they have a child now. Usi, a hitman once trained by Madame(Tina Mba) but now working with a terrorist organization,’Ultio’ (a name coined after the Roman goddess of vengeance) comes in with her girls and kidnaps Grace’s daughter so Grace can get across to Chike. She needed Chike to do something for her, however, knowing Grace was Chike’s weakpoint, she resorted to blackmail by kidnapping Grace’s daughter. At this time, just like it ended in Part 1, Chike was already working as an agent for an International Organization while in Nigeria. Chike, while serving her sentence then returns to Nigeria in a joint operation of the U.S Government and the Department Of Security Of Nigeria. Her present mission now is to take down an illegal arms dealer with the aid of her new sidekick, Obiora(Stan Nze), which they however succeed in easily, it is on this mission, she meets Usi who posits to know much about her in a short heated glance. The Plot further gets entangled with the introduction of old friend Edem (Jim Iyke), whose information expertise is needed to execute the job given to Chike by Ultio. Madame, now in prison comes to the scene when more information is needed about Usi, this leaves Madame negotiating releasing her information about Usi for her freedom, in the process of saving Madame from prison, Chike is double-crossed by Usi, and series of events play, and Grace is killed, this sets up a tasty appetite for revenge as Chike vows to kill Usi for killing her friend turned sister. Did she kill Usi? Was she able to get her revenge, or did she get into even more trouble? All of that make up the suspense in the movie.
Well, while the plot is set rolling with a well-done montage that refreshes our memories of the prequel and gives first-time viewers a glimpse into the background of the plot and characters, but the lapses start to set in: Chike and Obiora swim to the location of their mission with just their swimsuits but miraculously have a change of clothes waiting for them on land. Also, new characters are not properly introduced, leaving most of them undefined, apart from Usi and Igwe Mackintosh (Blossom Chukwujekwu). We are left wondering who the rest characters are and what their stakes in the events are. Some characters are even mentioned as if they were a part of the 2019 original and should already be acquainted with; this causes a disconnect from the prequel because it seems like there are events we are not aware of. Finally, it does seem the movie is all bent on showing us some kickboxing skills than a particular storyline, there are some unnecessary fight scenes, an example is the scene that sees Chike and Obiora go to Edem for his help, yes; fine Edem is angry at the betrayal suffered from Chike years ago, however; the intro to that fight just seemed too flaccid, it seemed the writer was torn between putting up a drama thriller and a martial arts movie.
The movie has a Part 3 because at the end Madame is contacted to take down Chike, *sighs*, is it really necessary? Well, it seems the makers want us coming back always
The movie is a joint production of Inkblot Productions, FilmOne Entertainment and Anakle Studios. It was directed by Chinaza Onuzo instead of Niyi Akinmolayan who directed the first part. The film was released to cinemas on August 12, 2022.
To be candid, Nollywood in recent times has gotten it well with Cinematography and Screenplay, these had been an Achilles’ heel for classic Nollywood. The Cinematography and Screenplay was good. And oh, the Costuming was superb, we were left drooling at Usi’s badass jumpsuit.
Stand Out Performer – Adesua Etomi Wellington & Nancy Isime
It really is hard picking an exceptional actor in this, they were all amazing, however, there are two stand-out acts, Adesua Etomi & Nancy Isime really brought some exceptionalism to their roles, from facial expressions to gesticulations, to action, it was top-notch, it really is tough picking a better act between both though, they both executed their respective roles exceptionally.
Can-do-better Performer- Nil
Seemed the Producer carefully picked every actor for this.
