Lisabi is a historical epic set in the 18th-century Oyo Empire. It follows the story of an Egba farmer, Lisabi, who rescued his people from centuries of subjugation under the oppressive Oyo Empire.
I don’t know if you’ve heard, but according to some people, Lisabi is Nollywood’s best epic yet. If you didn’t hear anything like this, good for you, but if you did, I’m here to tell you that’s not true. Lisabi wasn’t even a great watch, and no matter how you look at it, it’s definitely not one of Nollywood’s best by any standard. People need to fear God, calm down, and stop with the unnecessary hype.
What worked?
The cinematography was good, the setting of the film was well done, and the costumes and makeup were quite realistic. With these elements, the film captured the essence of a Yoruba community from that period.
The acting and casting worked to a large extent. Adedimeji Lateef, Mr Macaroni and Adebimpe gave decent performances. Ibrahim Chatta delivered an outstanding performance as Sangodeyi. His character was ruthless and reckless, and he owned it.
The storyline was also good. The tale of Lisabi is inspiring; he is a hero whose actions altered the course of Yoruba history. Telling stories like this is always a good idea.
But….
What were the issues?
The number one issue was the poorly written script. When I heard the title Lisabi, I looked forward to learning more about this historical figure, who is often described as “more than a farmer, a brilliant military organizer”. I was hoping for an exciting and inspiring tale of bravery and strategic genius. Instead, what we got was weak dialogue, bland characters, and several unnecessary and unrealistic scenes. Lisabi was underwhelming, I was borrrrrred. The first 45mins of the film focused on irrelevant sub-plots and while watching this film, i realized that so many things just didn’t make sense.
Storytelling was also a let down. When I say the storytelling was bad, I mean they failed to carry the audience along. I was so confused while watching this film because there were too many unanswered questions. For instance, did you also notice that one minute, Lisabi was a hardworking and diligent farmer, and the next, he was a herbalist in his own shrine, with direct access to gods and deities. I kept wondering – from where to where? Where did his power come from? What’s the backstory? The time that should have been spent on this important character development was wasted on Oshokenu and Abebi’s love story. The magical elements they randomly added undermined the core message which was Lisabi’s bravery and tactical prowess. With a beast, a bird whisperer, a brown skinned hulk in the mix, what i thought was supposed to be a biopic suddenly became a fantasy movie. I just kept on wondering -was this how it actually happened to Lisabi or is Niyi Akinmolayan just doing his own thing?
I wondered about the inconsistent mode of operation of the Ilari Oyo group. There was that scene where they went to a particular village to collect tribute; many people brought out yams, corn, and other items, but people like Oshokenu and some other men were calmly drinking palm wine in a shop, seemingly unbothered. Why were they not part of the group submitting their tribute? Did the Ilari Oyo visit some houses on certain days and others on different days?
Then, there was the scene where someone whispered into Sangodeyi’s ear after that young lady insulted him. He stood up abruptly, and suddenly we saw a village burning. I kept asking, what did the person say? What happened? Why did they burn the village? I didn’t get it!
The scene where Oshokenu fought the Ilari Oyo and killed several men didn’t feel realistic either. What do you mean he killed 10 men? How? I could go on and on, but the point is, this film didn’t carry us along. We weren’t intrigued, and we weren’t invested
Another major issue with this film was the pacing. When you start watching Lisabi, the first thing that hits you is the excessive use of slow motion. In an attempt to make those scenes seem important and dramatic, they almost finished us with slow mo scenes, even for inconsequential moments. The soundtrack felt unnecessarily slow and haunting all through the film. As a result, nothing actually felt significant and it was just exhausting to watch.
Let’s talk about the use of CGI in this film. It was so bad, it made me cringe, but what made it even more frustrating was the fact that most of it wasn’t even necessary.
Moving on, do they really hold auditions in Nollywood? Why was Olumide Oworu mute in this film? Why cast him if he couldn’t speak Yoruba? For her first film, Liquorose as Abebi wasn’t bad, but it would’ve been better if she didn’t have to deliver her lines so slowly. They were careful not to give her too many lines, but I couldn’t help but wonder if someone else auditioned for the role. For most of the actors, the dialogue was very stiff and their struggles with the Egba accent affected the overall delivery.
Finally, I think the biggest issue I had with this film was the lack of originality. If you have seen all the latest epics, you’ll realize that this film just repeats the same tropes. Odunlade Adekola has acted the same kind of role in about 3 epics already….same delivery, same carriage. There was nothing new about the storytelling in this film, nothing exciting, character development was poor, Gabriel Afolayan was a waka pass (the waste of talent is in itself is a crime), there were no highlights. The trailer of this movie was more exciting than the film itself.
I’m sure some people were really impressed by the first scene of this film, where Odunlade was bathing in what looked like a pool of blood, but personally, I found it very underwhelming. There were so many things wrong with that scene, but I’ll just say that I had no business watching Odunlade wear his clothes and beads 🤦🏽♀️. And all those people just sitting around? Those chiefs delivering their poor lines one after the other? That was the scene that kept putting me to sleep. It was so long, yet it was just unnecessary drama that wasted our time.
The final fight scene was also not a highlight, it was really weak. Did you see the tree that supposedly dragged one of the warriors away? Haba!😭 I didn’t like the poorly choreographed fights, the sparks, the flying leaves, or the bird girl’s appearance. When the film ended with “The saga continues,” I just laughed because, honestly, there is no reason why this film should have a part two. If they had prioritized the important narratives, they could have covered everything in this first part. It took me three days to complete this film, so I don’t have high expectations for part two, but maybe they’ll surprise us by some miracle.
This is yet another film that could have been great but was ruined by poor writing and terrible direction. I honestly do not think Niyi Akinmolayan is a good director.
A large-scale project, a great premise, or historical source material (in this case, the remarkable true story of Lisabi) cannot compensate for a lack of compelling storytelling and memorable characters. Overall, Lisabi was not a great watch for me. What should have been an engrossing exploration of Lisabi’s triumphs and travails turned into a hollow experience. The film lacked tension, was filled with terrible special effects, and, as a biopic, it offered no new or insightful perspectives on its lead character.
Have you seen Lisabi? What are your thoughts?
My rating: 4.5/10.
Have you seen the movie, please share your thoughts with us in the comments below
Read the review of Afamefuna.
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