Emeka Nweze
After watching Nimbe, I couldn’t help but wonder if the movie was made by actual film makers or by people who were only concerned about preaching against drug abuse, because Nimbe delivered nothing of note as a cinematic piece. The goal of the movie was to talk about the ills of drug abuse and advertise for merrybet and it delivered on those with aplomb. Very little seriousness was put into making rewatchable cinema.
Below are five areas in the movie that better explain my opinion.
Story
Nimbe tells an important tale of social vices, particularly drug abuse and how they affect our society. For the times that we live in today this is a necessary story that definitely needs to be told.
Script
Once again another Nollywood makes the same mistake of having too many ideas without a focal point. The script attempts to tell the story of drug abuse from the perspective of both the sellers and the users and all the catastrophe in between. This premise on paper has immense potential but the writers botched it and gave us what felt like a secondary school play.The writers fall into the trap of trying to be too over the top a bid to be spectacular instead of giving us a simple plot with emotional depth and feel. There were completely unnecessary sequences that made no meaning to the story. It often felt like that script was written in parts and put together later. Furthermore, we are supposed to see the story through the eyes of Nimbe, which means that we should have some kind of attachment to him. However, I personally felt nothing for Nimbe or his pathetic downward spiral from god kid to bad kid and in the end I was left wanting so much more.
Acting
Can someone give Toyin Abraham her Oscar already? Once again she delivered a superb performance with so much emotional depth. Odunlade Adekola was also professional as usual, and Chimezie Imo who played Nimbe was also believable as well. Other performances, although forgivable with so many fresh faces, were not exactly fascinating. Toyin and Odunlade’s acting were one of the few silver linings in the movie.
Directing
You know there’s a problem when what is supposed to be a drama and provoke solemn emotions feels like a comedy. Maybe we can cut Tope Alake some slack (no pun intended), since he was given a very poor script to work with. However, it is the job of the director to take the lemons given to him and turn it into lemonade. The pacing was off on several occasions, scenes dragged and the director failed to deliver any captivating and purposeful drama.
Themes
Nimbe was made to pass a message and through this, touched on a number of important themes such as drug abuse, peer pressure, parenting, rape among others. Despite the unimpressive script, each of these themes were treated with attention and messages were passed.
Advertisement
Nigerian films cannot be taken seriously if sponsored advertisements are made so obvious the way it was in Nimbe.I understand that merry bet powered the movie and probably provided funding, but such obvious marketing makes what is supposed to be a serious film with a serious message cringe worthy.
