THE BLACK BOOK: A VITAL STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

By Onochie Onyekwena

First off, let me say that The Black Book is a good movie. I was decently entertained by it and it surely had a lot going for it. I think it’s a film that director, Editi Effiong can be proud of.

The official synopsis for The Black Book states: “After his son is framed for a kidnapping, a bereaved deacon takes justice into his own hands and fights a corrupt police gang to absolve him of both his crimes and his sins.” This synopsis is so misleading because it under-sells what TBB is all about; it does the film a great injustice.

If you make the mistake of thinking TBB is just a revenge flick, you could be forgiven. It is a revenge flick mixed with conspiracy, ghosts of the past and such high stakes that have you hooked. 

The dependable Richard Mofe-Damijo plays Paul Edima, a deacon who is drawn back to his violent past after the murder of his son, an unknowing pawn in a larger conspiracy. 

RMD executes his role efficiently and it’s little surprise that he does, considering all the work he put into preparing for this character, both physically and emotionally. It shows you that hard work actually pays off. Some actors of RMD’s calibre (both local and foreign) could have phoned in this role for the paycheck, but he didn’t and the film is all the better for it.

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Some individuals have likened his character to John Wick, but I would rather compare him to Michael Sullivan, played by Tom Hanks in Sam Mendes’ Road to Perdition, a film where a man must go against his mentor and mob boss to get his own brand of justice after his family is murdered by said mentor’s son.

Ade Laoye is also great in her role as Vic Kalu, a determined reporter whose past is linked closer to Edima’s more than she knows. And that’s the thing about this film; the screenplay (written by Bunmi Ajakaiye and the director) does a fine job weaving this story in a way that fits the plot nicely and steadily without rushing it or slowing it down. You’ll find that TBB never gets boring.

TBB doesn’t have that air of originality (See John Wick, Red, Without Remorse etc.), but this doesn’t hurt it as much as it should. Originality is a bit difficult in the global film industry these days, anyway, so I’ll cut Effiong and Ajakaiye some slack on this one. In the realm of revenge movies, TBB firmly establishes its presence, boasting a unique set of surprises that set it apart and make it a source of pride.

All this being said, I do have a few problems with TBB. First, some cringe-worthy and unnatural acting. I’ll have to single out Olumide Oworu (Edima’s son) for this because his performance felt underwhelming, despite the fact that he had little screen time. Short screen time didn’t stop Bimbo Akintola from shining. I liked Oworu in the Far From Home series, so I was a bit disappointed by his interpretation of a character that was the focal point of the plot.

Another grouse I have with the film is the fact that it doesn’t milk the emotional subtext of the plot. Edima lost his son in such a tragic and unjust manner; Kalu lost her mother to an assassin at a young age. These events certainly hold significance in the storyline and bear emotional costs for the characters, but the impact was not felt.

All in all, TBB is a fine film that has surely earned its place at the top of the Netflix Naija charts. It’s not perfect, but it has set an overall decent standard that other Nigerian films can hope to emulate. We’re not where we need to be yet as a film industry but the road there is looking good with this one.