Synopsis: Anikulapo tells the story of Saro – a man who messed up his first chance at life, and when given a second chance, he made a bigger mess of it.
Mixed feelings…..that’s the best way to describe how I felt after watching this movie. On one hand, I liked it very much and on the other hand I felt like it was not all that.
Anikulapo is an epic movie that takes us back to the 17th century Oyo Empire. I liked the setting, the costumes, the makeup – the tribal marks looked so real. I really liked the pot making scene. The lighting, the picture and video quality, sound; I liked the music in this movie, it was quite moving. Everything looked very crisp and I was impressed.
Acting and casting worked perfectly. I believe everyone brought their A game. It was good to see veterans like Dele Odule, Baba Wande, Adewale Elesho and the others. It was nice to see Sola Sobowale play a different role.
Bimbo Ademoye is a talented actress and most times she gives us 110% but in this particular movie, there was something missing. I could not place my finger on what the issue was (maybe the issue was with the character?). Anyway, she did well but I have seen her do better and I know she could have done better.
Saro (played by Kunle Remi) was my favorite performance sha.
Moving on, the storyline was good. It was very simple, and plot progression was coherent. I also liked the themes addressed, such as love, greed and betrayal.
Lessons that stood out for me;
Fear women. Fear men. Nothing is free anywhere, there is always a price to pay.
What were the issues?
2 hours plus run time, why??????
It was unnecessarily long. The story was too simple to require over 140mins run time, unnecessary scenes should have been cut out. Since their time in Oyo was just the background, they should not have spent so much time there.
While the story was not bad, I had issues with the storytelling. Even though I believe character development is important in a movie, this movie dragged in the bid to do that. The first 1 hour of the movie seemed like Anikulapo part 1 and the remaining 1 hour plus was Anikulapo part 2.
I won’t say the movie had any high points, it just continued in the same pace till the very end. Little or no excitement, we just had to be content with the laid back style. It is apparent that this is Kunle Afolayan’s style and we really should not complain anymore.
The actions displayed by some of the characters seemed implausible when we consider the era. For example:
Arolake was a young traditional girl whose only sexual experience was with an old king, it was too brazen and unrealistic that she would drag a full bodied male stranger inside the forest and rape him. It did not make sense, anyone could have stumbled on them, it’s not 2022 when women are bold to take what they want. Even 2022 women don’t just rape men that catch their fancy so I did not get that aspect of the story.
As soon as they met, Saro was lovestruck, he was even day dreaming about her. I was expecting clandestine meet-ups, where they just exchange pleasantries, exchange gifts, blush, gush and gradually fall in love. I did not see that rape scene coming.
I was not moved by Saro and Arolake’s love story, it did not seem real or deep enough for him to be willing to risk his life for her. They did not have encounters that could have informed such a bond, let’s not forget that we only saw them speak once and it was that same day they both decided to elope. How??
Nudity is not something we must shy away from in moviemaking but I believe it should be used only when it fits the ambience of the scene, only when it helps the scene. In the case of Anikulapo, when we take into consideration the fact that this was supposed to be a lovemaking scene in the 17th century, then we would realize that not only was the nudity unnecessary, it also ruined that scene. Nobody expected it, nobody needed it. For that era, lying down on top of her and turning off the burning lights would have been scandalous enough . They just showed Kunle’s butt and Bimbo’s breasts for nothing.
I also had an issue with the Akala bird and the role it played in this movie. I think the bird is one character that was not properly explained. If the bird was spiritual, should Arolake have been able to see it with her bare eyes and even attempt to attack it? Why was the bird carrying a gourd and what was the significance of the gourd. How did Arolake put 2 and 2 together to conclude that the gourd had the power to bring the dead to life? Did she hear it in a folklore? How did Saro know the right way to use the gourd in order to raise dead people? He got it on the first try, almost like he got a tutorial while he was unconscious. That aspect of the story was unclear.
Furthermore, the movie made some assertions at the beginning that it did not follow through to the end. For example, the Akala bird was in charge of ushering people into the after life, there were so many deaths in this movie and we did not see the Akala bird visit any one of them except Saro. Why??
This movie was set in a time when the dead was not buried but thrown into the evil forest. If that was the case, when Saro was left in the forest to die, I expected to see skulls, dead bodies, evidence that so many dead people had been left to rot away in that evil forest. They traveled for weeks in that forest and not once did they stumble on any dead body, not even one bone. Their journey through the forest should have been more horrifying and scary as a result, instead, they traveled through the forest for weeks and their only concern was food.
We only saw skeletons at the very beginning of the movie but those were edits or effects sef, not actual skulls. This detailing would have made a lot of difference in the movie.
I strongly believe that Saro should have lost his left eye. That eye was so damaged after the beating, there was no way for him to apply any treatment, we did not see him apply herbs or anything and they were in the bush for so long. Common sense says that it would have gotten infected really bad and it would have been a nice touch…..just saying.
I think the biggest flaw of this movie was its inability to inspire any genuine emotion. How did you feel about the love story? Did you cheer for their love? Were you really happy when he did not die or just indifferent? When Saro raised the first dead person, did you feel any excitement? Did you cheer for him or you just waited to see where the movie was going? Other then shaking your head and thinking “why are some men ungrateful”, did you really hate Saro when he started misbehaving? When you realized Arolake poured out the stuff in the gourd, did you cheer? I was just indifferent to be honest. The movie did not pull me in enough to be invested in the struggles, wins and punishments of the characters.
I had so many questions….
- What was that end? Did he not die or what?
- What was with the mute king?
- Was the Alaafin’s beard tinted?
- Was it just me or the young princess struggled to speak Yoruba? Even Saro struggled with the pronunciation of some words.
- What was that contour on Arolake’s face towards the end of the movie? Was it to make her look sad or old? It looked off.
Overall, it was not a bad watch at all. The old and young can watch and appreciate it. Good storyline, beautiful setting, great production values, good performances but it could have been more. After Swallow and A Naija Christmas, I think Anikulapo is a very good comeback for Kunle Afolayan.
Rating: 7.5/10
Have you seen it? Do you agree with this review? Share your feedback in the comments section below.
Read the review of The Man of God here.
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