Intro- Lisabi: the Uprising Movie Review
Quick Movie Info
- Movie Name- Lisabi: the Uprising
- Genre: Historical, Epic Drama
- Year Released: 27th September 2024
- Director: Niyi Akinmolayan
- Cast: Niyi Akinmolayan
Watch The Review of Lisabi: the Uprising On YouTube
History is littered with stories of heroes who fought oppression and tyranny even at the expense of their lives.
Yet again we encounter another warrior who took it upon himself to liberate his people from the clutches of Bondage and unwarranted bloodletting unleashed on them by a foe bigger than they ever imagined to defeat.
Today we have yet another interesting movie review all for your viewing pleasure.
It is titled Lisabi, The Uprising.
A classic retelling of a story about a historical figure and founder of Egbaland, who lived during the latter part of the 18th Century.
A movie with an ensemble cast that goes back to a Historical period with a timeline set around 1775.
Follow us as we unmask this hero in this review who lived for the liberation and freedom of his people.
Cast
Lisabi is played by Lateef Adedimeji, a contented farmer, who loves tending to his crops, playing the ideal citizen by paying his tributes.
The events leading to his transformation could be attributed to the violent end of his best friend.
Ikeola is played by Adebimpe Oyebade, she is a reliable friend to Lisabi and Abebi.
Osoken is played by Adebowale "Debo" Adedayo.
He is a happy-go-lucky fellow and a very good friend of Lisabi.
He spends his time daily sipping through palmwine gourds.
He is considered lazy, but he proved everyone wrong after his violent onslaught on Oyo's tribute collectors.
Salako is played by Ibrahim Yekini another dependable friend and associate of Lisabi.
Alaafin of Oyo is played by Odunlade Adekola.
An ostentatious tyrant who rules with an iron fist, exerting a regime orchestrated by the excessive extortion of vassal states.
He is also a subservient monarch and collaborator to the Portuguese slavers.
Sangodeyi is played by Ibrahim Chatta, the ruthless leader of the Tribute collectors of the Oyo Empire.
His blood lust and greed are unmatched,.
Femi Adebayo makes a cameo appearance as Oba Olodan, the first vassal to rebel against the Empire, unfortunately for him, this rebellion led to his demise.
Odunbamitefa is played by Gabriel Afolayan, another comrade in the liberation struggle.
Obimodede is played by Kevin Ikeduba, an Outspoken figure within the Egba society. He is also a fellow comrade and farmer.
Abebi is played by Rose Afeji, a beautiful and dedicated love interest to Lisabi firstly, then Osoken who she was later betrothed to in the course of the event.
Osogbenro is played by Boma Akpore.
He is a taciturn member of the farmer's cooperative formed by Lisabi.
Crew
Story/Screenplay - Niyi Akinmolayan
Script writer(s) - Niyi Akinmolayan & Yinka Olaoye
D.O.P - Barnabas Emordi & Nora Awolowo
Editor - Ayomikun Oteju
Colourist- Niyi Akinmolayan
Sound Design - Adam Songbird
VFX- Mary Claudia Nwoga
Producer(s)- Oyebade Adebimpe &
Executive Producer- Lateef Adedimeji
Director - Niyi Akinmolayan
Plot & Story
The plot gives life to Lisabi, The progenitor of the Egba people.
It delves deeper into the typical imaging of this figure of significance to the Egba people, who lived as vassals to the Oyo Kingdom.
The antecedents of this character and how he became incensed to the point of rebellion.
A situation that eventually led to the liberation struggle for his people.
The story takes you through the difficulties of living as a vassal state in the historic Oyo Empire.
An empire whose stock in trade is the decimation of the economic well-being of every outlier encumbered in their servitude while leaving a trail of blood and mayhem as they match.
Lisabi, a disciplined farmer and warrior devised a simple yet all-encompassing agricultural system.
A cooperative society where every member of the community works together to build individual wealth and enough reserves from their farming activities, to pay tribute to their enemies, and still get to keep enough behind for themselves.
The plot of this story thickens when the real reasons for this system created by Lisabi and adopted by his kinsmen are revealed in due course.
Character Development and Performance
Lateef Adedimeji shakes off his clown stereotype, (though he still displayed a bit), to embody the essence and mission of this historic warrior and leader.
I loved the Metamorphosis of his character, I mean you could feel the joy, and the pains that followed as he morphs from farmer to warrior.
Ibrahim Chatta was cast as Sangodeyi, a vile and despicable leader of the tribute collectors of the Alaafin of the Oyo Empire at the time.
Once again he charmed me with his oratorial prowess, violent disposition, and deep inflections.
His expressions though inane and almost unbelievable, embodied all the true characteristics of a tyrannical vermin he was portraying.
Adebimpe Oyebade took up the role of Ireola, a female friend to Lisabi and Abebi (played by Liqorose).
She gave the needed assistance in her capacity as a good friend.
Odunlade Adekola was cast as the Alaafin of the Oyo empire, and in his usual characteristics, he displayed his artistic strength and dexterity in his portrayal of this role.
Though he was somewhat limited in terms of scenes, I felt he could have played a more pivotal role in the film
However, it's safe to say that he did quite good.
Adebowale 'Debo' Adedayo (a.k.a. Mr. Macaroni), who was cast as Osoken, a loyal and dutiful friend of Lisabi whose sacrifice helped nurture the latter's transformation from farmer to warrior, was truly remarkable
I loved the screen chemistry between him and Lateef, not forgetting the humor he brought to the plot albeit a figure whose strength of character and sacrifice could be attributed to the renaissance and liberation struggle for the Egba people.
Abebi was portrayed by Afeji 'Liqorose' Rose. It was refreshing to watch this Edo State-born former BBN second runner-up in a Yoruba language drama
While her role was somewhat limited, I loved seeing her express herself fluently while properly relaying her character as Abebi.
Gabriel Afolayan played the role of Odunbamitefa.
As usual, he reprised his stereotypical character like he always does in almost every historical or epic fantasy movie he has appeared.
Maybe this time a bit tittered in this role as a farmer and an associate of Lisabi.
Ibrahim Yekini depicted the role of Salako, a farmer and comrade to Lisabi. He had the right expressions that define whatever quality of this character.
Femi Adebayo's role as Oba of Olodan could be described as a cameo, and even with this very concise appearance, he made his mark.
Kevin Ikeduba was a surprise addition, it was a good sight seeing him return to what he knows best in the role of Obimodede, another comrade in the liberation struggle.
Directing
Niyi Akinmolayan is one of the most respected Directors, manning the directorial seat for this flick was fitting, to say the least.
The cast was well-rounded, the alignment with historical records showed minimal distortion, and the use of contextual set design should be commended.
Before we continue, I'd love to ask: did you notice any historical distortion or poorly included scenes that you feel were purely unnecessary in this movie?
Let us know in the comments section.
Now let's get back to the review.
One aspect that I found a tad boring were the lengthy and unnecessary scenes.
They were more like surplus to requirements.
I deliberately watched through each of the scenes to see if there was any need for it's inclusion, sadly there wasn't.
This directing gets a B.
Editing
The surrealistic feel and beautiful depiction of the picture need some commendation.
The colourist did a good job with the skin tones and the magical representation of this era.
I loved the ability to properly differentiate objects, ensuring that little details are properly highlighted and distinguished.
The only downside is that I noticed that at some point the picture was quite bland and distasteful, this was noticeable in the scene where Lisabi and his farmer comrades were having a tete-a-tete with the Alake of his native Egbaland.
Overall I'd say the picture was aesthetically expressed and walks away with a B.
Visuals and Cinematography
The D.O.P., Cinematographer, and drone operator(s) did a remarkable job.
I was lost in the beauty of the aerial shots, one in particular was the shot where Lisabi was working on his farm as the shots was magically taken away.
I also loved the subtle camera movements, intelligent shots, and good angles that delivered a masterful depth of field to the characters whenever they were in focus.
For this cinematic statement, earns them an A.
VFX and Special Effects
One of the areas we need to improve is our VFX, special effects, and Animations.
This movie featured its fair share of animations and special effects. While I wasn't disappointed, I wouldn't say I was impressed either.
The scene where Lisabi and his warriors were taking shape-shifting lessons on how to transform into entities was amateurish, I loved the fact that the lip-syncing of the animated character was exceptionally relayed.
Sadly the transition from human to entity did not do it for me.
It wasn't all gloomy and fails, I loved the part with the little bird clusters, and then the severing of the head, though not your normal Hollywood grade effect, wasn't that bad I'd say.
Overall this department of the movie gets a B.
Soundtrack & Sound Design
Nollywood like I've been criticising in almost all the reviews on this channel, needs to take the audio side of things very seriously.
Lisabi, The movie did not disappoint in this regard.
The use of a good score, (a bit high in some instances), did not interfere with the dialogue.
The beauty of nature and its sounds was exceptionally captured in the audio of this movie.
Less or no ambient noises, good sound designs and transitions, and a sonorous music score that takes you through the scenes, bringing warmth and meaning to the entire scenery.
For this beautiful sound design, I'll award a generous A plus.
Theme & Message
Being subservient to tyranny is never the long-term approach to living with abuse of the superior individual or groups of people.
Lisabi understood the times, he played a long game with both his oppressors as well as his farm comrades who needed time to get into the struggle.
Summary
Lisabi: The Uprising is a good movie with a good plot that did well to the history behind the story and this historical figure.
Beautiful picture with an alluring cinematic ambiance, and a good cast (even if it's becoming a cliché seeing Gabriel Afolayan in every historical epic drama), the movie gets a 7.0 out of 10.
As we look forward to the concluding part of this epic and historical drama scheduled to drop in January 2025, we hope it gives a satisfying conclusion to the first part that ended in a cliffhanger.
Have you watched Lisabi, The Uprising on Netflix?
Did it distort the original story and material represented?
Was the cast and acting to your satisfaction?
What could have been better?
Let us know what you think in the comments section.
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