Mena Veroh
The six-episode Nigerian television series Shanty Town debuted on Netflix hours ago and has been buzzing ever since. But is it really worth your time? Let’s investigate!
Produced by Chinenye Chichi Nworah, Shanty Town was written by Xavier Ighorodje, Donald Tombia, ShirleyAnn Ede, and Ayomikun Paseda and directed by Dimeji Ajibola, costing Ini Edo her blood and tears.
Ini Edo, Chidi Mokeme, Nancy Isime, Nse Ikpe-Etim, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Zubby Michael, Peter Okoye, Shaffy Bello, Shola Sobowale, Ali Nuhu, and Mercy Eke are among the cast members of Shanty Town.
The violent television series primarily centers on an undercover cop out for vengeance who infiltrates a criminal organization and unearths embarrassing information about their operations and accomplices.
We weren’t let down by Shanty Town in terms of production, audio, cinematography, props, stunts, or delivery—Nollywood has undoubtedly raised the bar for filmmaking today. The acting, too? It was terrific to finally catch Chidi Mokeme, who portrayed the evil Scar, on television. His delivery was outstanding. In actuality, every character lived up to their expectations. As a goddess of the silver screen, Nse Ikpe Etim merits flowers. We didn’t expect anything less from RMD, and Psquare’s Peter Okoye was endearing and adorable. Shaffy Bello also completely controlled the two moments she was in.
Oh, how we adored Ini Edo and Nse Ikpe Etim’s Ibibio dialogues; they were so entertaining to watch. The movie covered a healthy examination of Nigerian indigenous languages, which is a success.
But as you can see, Shanty Town tried to be a lot of different things. For example, at some point in the plot, we recognized a King of Boys story, a scene featuring a tyrannical handler controlling female sex workers similar to that in Avenger’s Black Widow, and the infamous Omo ghetto where the saga fight ended. That was too exhausting to watch because of the numerous factors.
It was overly drawn out, the plot was uninteresting and uninspired, and there was no natural progression. If not for the fact that we had to see it through to the conclusion to give it a review, we would have quit at episode 3. By the time it was finished, it had a hurried feeling and had loose ends, random action scenes, and ridiculous supernatural aspects that had nothing to do with the plot.
There were many illogical details and disconnects, such as how on earth a ring as strong as that depicted could be destroyed with such ease. Jackie sent Shalewa a voicemail via what method? If they were really so close, how come Shalewa never thought to answer Jackie’s missed calls or noticed the voicemail?
The last combat sequence, wow, was too drawn out and a little unbelievable. We also wish that less time had been devoted to montages of dancing ladies flaunting their buttocks. It was so clear that the filmmakers included views of naked ladies and their body parts on purpose in practically every scene. Why? sex up male viewers?
Likewise, Nollywood has to improve rather than using nudity ineffectively to purposefully generate talk about it. Sure, it got people talking and encouraged more of them to see the movie because of the moment, but the tactic needs to cease immediately! Even if it is a ‘body duplicate,’ the Shalewa nudity scene was completely
We at Kemi Filani give Shanty Town a 5 out of 10 based on its superb production and solid performances, but not because of the compelling plot.
Comments