the nollywood critique

At first I wanted this review to feature Charles Okafor, the main reason I decided to watch the film, Mass Destruction. I realized though, that I have so far featured two men (Duru and Nouah) and have not really focused on the other (and sometimes better) half of Nollywood - its beautiful actresses. The film Mass Destruction is more like the Nollywood equivalent of The Exorcist starring pretty-faced Caroline Ekanem… I cannot comment on Caroline’s body of work seeing that I have only watched one or two Ekanem movies. However, I can’t wait until she comes out with something new so that I may observe her evolution as an actress within Nollywood.

In this film, Ekanem takes up the unconventional role of being demon-possessed. Unconventional in that time after time, Nollywood plots focus on madness, and not demon possesssion - an important distinction, in my opinion. Also, considering that young Nollywood actresses usually given one of two roles - angel-to-be-married or temptress-to-be-shunned - Ekanem did dip her hands into the unconventional in this film. She, in conjunction with the spirit that possesses her, do quite a marvelous job. Actually, I did not expect that she had it in her seeing that in the movies I have seen, she seemed to have carved out a niche for herself in more traditional roles given to young female actresses. I doubt that other actresses, of her age group, could have done half as well in performing this role.

Another actress of note is Ngozi Ezeonu. Of course, this seasoned actress did not disappoint in her performance. Though the role that she played is very typical of her, I think her consistency in delivering a high quality, and more importantly, believable, performance should be recognized.

The beginning of the film was a bit over-dramatic and the special effects, were…hmmm…well this is Nollywood. But I knew what to expect when watching this film, so I was not shocked. I thought the plot in the beginning left many questions to be answered….and was a bit rushed through. Personally, I did not think that there was a need for a Part 2. The producer could have very well spent a little more time in the beginning without boring the audience. To the producer’s credit, there was no annoying repeat of the storyline of Part 1 in Part 2 – Part 2 was indeed Part 2. Unfortunately, many in Nollywood take to repeating half of the first part of the film in the so-called second part. Oh well, that’s life.

I would recommend this film for those who appreciate the Nigerian Christian film genre. Personally, I found the film inspiring in that it wasn’t your typical name-it-claim-it type message. Rather, it documented the reality that following God or expecting from God is not always straight-forward and in the process we may get bruised and beaten before we see that ultimate victory. It’s like a Mount Zion film, but fortunately, with some Nollywood flair.

Big name actors: Charles Okafor (anyone know what he is up to these days?), Ngozi Ezeonu (needs more credit for the work she does), Olu Jacobs (enough reason to watch any film…if I was 30 years older, I would so get with him – but let’s leave that for now, he’s a married man), Caroline Ekanem

Actors to watch for: well, actually look for - Duro Michael – somewhat of a heavyweight in those days , but I haven’t seen him as of late. His appearance in this film is brief.

Producer: Obi Madubogwu and Dozie Omechi

Director: Obi Madubogwu

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