This movie tells the story of three brothers and their mother who takes drastic measures in order to encourage them to settle down and start their own families.
I liked the concept of our very own Nigerian Christmas movie. I really liked the picture quality, I thought it was top notch.
The storyline was however not special. If you remove the Christmas decorations, this is a storyline we have seen over and over again.
Acting and casting was not bad, Obi (played by Efe Iwara ) stood out for me, he never went out of character. Special appreciation for the late Rachael Oniga, she would be greatly missed.
Moving on, I know some of you are ready to bite off my head but I really did not enjoy this movie. Let me tell you why:
Character development was poor. For example, let’s talk about Ajike’s character: was she supposed to be an illiterate ghetto girl? or someone who circumstances forced to live in the ghetto? I noticed the fact that they emphasized some of her grammatical blunders like when she said “On the mic” or “i catched fun”, but even with those errors, Ajike did not look, act or sound like a ghetto girl, so who exactly was she supposed to be? What was her story? The scenes where she had to interact with the ghetto guys and children in Mushin was so bad because it was obvious she did not belong there, she could not even communicate convincingly with them. It was painful to watch.
Chike’s character was drowned by his other brothers. We should have seen his story progress like the other 2 guys, it would have helped us understand the situationship with mercy Johnson better.
Tony Torpedo was another annoyance. I admit that some scenes were quite funny but he was just laughing like a lunatic all through and I was wondering “ a loan shark or a clown”
Tony was supposed to introduce an element of danger and urgency into the movie but he was also the one they saddled with the responsibility of providing comic relief, so it was impossible to feel the danger or to even feel like Ugo’s debt was that much of a big deal. It was impossible to take him seriously.
Then I had questions: the wire and cable part, was that their attempt to advertise a cable company? Very Lame. Do companies just go ahead to sponsor events like that? Since they decided to introduce a marketing angle into the movie, they should have seen it through to the end. From watching the Christmas carnival, would anyone have guessed that the lights or the concert was sponsored by the cable company? No.
When and how much exactly did Ugo borrow and why did he borrow the money? No background was given, they just expected us to put 2 and 2 together to get 5. If Obi was able to pay off the loan with just his promotion advance, that means it was not a lot of money, so what exactly was all the fuss about?
Don’t get me wrong, A Naija Christmas is definitely not a bad film but it just does not seem like a Christmas movie to me because somethings were missing:
- The nostalgia: We don’t really watch Christmas movies every year to see cinematic masterpieces. We watch to experience those feelings we grew up with around this time of the year — warmth, anticipation, joy, thrills, and even the wahala. Nothing nostalgic about this movie.
- The Authenticity: When you hear “Naija” you automatically expect to see the little things and big things that we as Nigerians associate with Christmas. If you have been to Christmas carnivals in the heart of Lagos, you would realize that this movie is not a true representation. No bangers, No fireworks (those tiny stick lights that children play with were missing), I did not see live chickens, no random aunty on the street wearing all red everything, the children did not have Christmas googles, even the gifts handed to the children were in boxes as opposed to nylon party packs (it’s the little things) I could go on and on.
Even the storyline was not authentic, it seemed like they picked different elements from other Christmas movies, added everything together and labeled it Naija.
- The Romance was dead. What is a Christmas movie without romance? Christmas movies make you say God when and pray for your own love. The romance in this movie cannot make anybody mushy. Kaneng and Obi’s relationship tried small but the one between Ugo and Ajike was nothing to write home about, it was not sweet at all. If that last scene where Ugo was kneeling down and everyone was begging Ajike did not make you cringe, your tolerance level ehn, it’s on another level.
Finally, this movie was quite elitist. It was a group of rich people doing CSR, we did not see anyone of them relate with these people in the ghetto, the look of superiority and disgust did not change till the very end. I am of the opinion that the Christmas warmth and affection peculiar to Christmas movies was missing.
Making the perfect Christmas movie is a tough task: if gotten right, it becomes a part of people’s annual festive ritual for years to come. I however do not think I can watch the movie A Naija Christmas a second time.
Rating: 6.8/10
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