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The Netflix movie, ‘House of Ga’a,’ made quite an entrance since hitting box office. Most viewed Nigerian movie for two straight months is no mean feat. A biopic of the legendary tyrant ‘Ga’a’ who, valiant in battle, but got power drunk and turned himself King in everything but name. Being an avid art lover, I read the story back in secondary school and knew quite a lot about it long before now.
Unlike many movie watchers, as a writer, I tend to pay attention to details the regular viewer might overlook. A lot of elements differentiate and “ok” movie from a “good” movie and then a “great” movie: Elements like, storytelling, sequence, believability, continuity and so many others. In so many of these elements, I found this film wanting and I’ll explain by starting with the first.
From the first scene, it was obvious that the writer aimed at wasting no time, hence his decision to take us straight to the thick of the action—the war scene. Yes, they fought, he won. He tells the Aare Ona Kakanfo to go back to his post so he can break the news of his victory himself. Ga’a comes back to a hero’s reception. Afterwards, the King honours him, he meets up with the Oyomesi (Kingmakers) and……hold up, hold up. There’s no time to breathe here. It all felt so rushed—the first 10-15mins. Where were they rushing to? I mean, it’s a 2hr movie that could easily have been 2hr 30mins. Why the rush. The story in that time period (first 10-15mins) was all over the place. Why did they have to cramp up so many events in that time frame and rush everything?
Afterwards, though, we had time to settle. Ga’a starts to get power drunk—changing Obas like he’s turning tea. I loved that depiction. The actor, Femi Branch, did justice to that role. Then, Ga’a meets his waterloo when he fires the bolt to kill the Aalafin Majeogbe. It backfires and he has a stroke. What happens afterwards became another huge red flag for me.
Ga’a’s spiritualist comes up with the idea of using his son’s love, Princess Agbonyin as a sacrifice so he can regain his health. That was perfectly understandable, painful as it was to view. The spiritualist goes ahead to do the life-swap in order to restore Ga’a to his normal health condition. He does it and it works, right? In fact, we see Ga’a taking his first steps and being applauded.
Now, my question is this: If Ga’a made that sacrifice and got his health restored, how come, during the invasion of his home, he still had to be carried about to safety like an imbecile? Even when the Aare breaks into his room, we can see him making lip movements like one with stroke. Common! Where did the healing disappear to, or did he suddenly see soldiers advancing and get paralyzed again to the extent he could no longer walk anymore? That seemed weird to me. It gets even more annoying when, he gets tied to a stake to be burnt and suddenly, his legs can stand upright again. Geez. Whoever did that Continuity job deserves a fine.
Now, still on the Ga’a character: His romance with the slave girl captured from Nupe; I mean, the one he converted to his wife. That bit of story became another area of concern for me. Yes, the girl is bold and talks back at him. I totally understand that. It, kind of, turns him on. Ok. He returns one night and the wives are whipping her back with koboko to the point of death and he rescues her and declares her his wife for all to hear. Ok. He takes her in his room and tends to her back wounds. Beautiful.
What I can never understand is how the writer came up with a sex scene at that particular point in time. This woman needs at least 4-5days of rest and medications to recover from her back injuries, but no. Our dear storyteller made her lay on her wounded back while Ga’a pounded her on bed with all his warrior skills. She was even enjoying it—someone that just got severely injured? Are you kidding me? Gosh! Where’s the believability in that?
Read Also: House of Ga’a retains its spot on Netflix global top 10 chart
Back to the Aare who orchestrated the invasion of Ga’a’s home: Where was he all along? There was no talk of him, nothing and then, boom! He shows up from nowhere, from beginning to the end of the film. Give me a break. That’s no way to tell a story. That continuity is silly to say the least.
Need I even mention the oratory part—where it was said that “after the death of the old King, it was time for the Oyomesi to select another.” These guys appear to have forgotten that there was a King who welcomed Ga’a in the second scene of the movie. Hearing the oratory, one would have thought that the King died, but, no. He was still alive and showed face subsequently, even summoning Ga’a. How then did the Orator come up with his narration of the King dying and the new King to be selected by the Oyomesi? Men, these are schoolboy errors top filmmakers shouldn’t be making in year 2024.
Then, during the invasion: The cell his son was locked in (for attempting to kill his father); the boy just uses his hands to lift the damn thing and escape! Wow! He must have been possessed by Hercules to pull that off! How do you build a cell barrier that a boy just lifts with his hands and throws aside like banana peels? I was laughing my socks off when I saw this. Hilarious.
Overall, I think the movie was ok to see. I liked bits of the acting displayed, but, common! These errors, which I just outlined here, made it feel a little annoying. But for patriotism, I would have walked out of the cinema that day long before the film ended.
I think our writers, directors and everyone else involved in production needs to really sit down to understand what it means to package a proper movie, especially one that’s supposed to be NetFlix African standard. Don’t give us these many errors and expect us to excuse it away. It don’t work that way. International critics would just look at this and tell themselves, “Well, it’s Africa. “It’s what is to be expected.” That should not be the case. Nollywood should have eclipsed those average expectations long before now.
In all, I give the film a 5.5-6/10. No hard feelings, but, I have seen better in my day. This movie doesn’t cut it for me. The hype doesn’t match the content at all. It’s just my 2cents opinion anyway.
