I cried after seeing Lionheart for the first time some months ago. I cried because I was deeply pained at the kind of mediocrity our “experts” exhibit. Netflix saw good picture, heard an indigenous language, and decided to buy. And by so doing, made Lionheart the benchmark for filmmakers.
Everyone says Genevieve did a great job considering it was her first, and I refuse to agree to that. It would have been easy to turn a blind to the incoherent story if she wasn’t one of the writers. How do you and a team of writers come up with a story that has undeveloped characters. Not one single character progressed from where they started. I tried to see if we would have, at least, one complete arc, but I drowned. Lionheart was not about any of the characters, and so, there was nobody’s journey to follow. Plus, adequate research was not done on the actual story they were trying to recreate (the story of Chisco, Ifesinachi and co Transport Companies).
Let’s not promote half measures. Our habit or culture of hyping brands (the Genevieve Nnaji brand, for example), instead objective appraisal does no good for the industry. We talk about good picture, and I ask, why won’t your picture be good when you have Yinka Edward as your Head Cinematographer. Let’s put in the work, and let it speak for us.
Image: Konbini
CHINA TORI 
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