RattleSnake: The Ahanna Story

Despite being someone who typically doesn't bother with local movies, I opted to give this a try because of the hype and found it (reasonably) entertaining. The storyline left me in awe because I usually don't expect to see any plot twists or ingenuity in Nollywood flicks. But this movie soared in that aspect.

While I watched, there were questions (such as why would Ahanna's mom leave him behind in the village etc.), and then I would realize shortly after, as the story unraveled, that they were deliberate plot elements. In simple language, my questions were answered and this was a good thing.

As much as I liked the plot of this movie, however, I hated a large number of the cast. Very subpar acting, even from the veterans. Some were downright atrocious. Half the time, I couldn't help but cringe. I honestly can't name one person who really stood out in their role. But that's just one problem. Here's another; the writing suffered in some places. For instance, the scene where Ahanna first visits Nze and Amara in Lagos, they're hardly done exchanging pleasantries before Amara unloads all of Nze's crap on Ahanna. I mean, who (in real life) goes, "Welcome," and then, "Should I tell him or you will?" All this, to someone you literally haven't seen in years. Absolutely ridiculous.

Meanwhile, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the Ramsey Nouah scene. What was the point of it? For a second there, I thought the movie was gonna go the mystic route but alas...

Nonetheless, I found the movie quite entertaining and was able to watch it right till the end. My verdict: By Nollywood standards, this would be an 8. By international, however, this would be a 4 or 5 due to the shallow, uninspired acting, and perhaps (insipid) directing.

Very bad acting, but the movie is still entertaining.

The Ahanna Story was such a brilliant screenplay seasoned with solid performance and overall production

DELICIOUS

-The film was indeed presented as a story; it almost felt like reading a book with images

-If we could have a standing ovation, it would go to Stan Nze and Bucci Franklin. E.f.f.o.r.t.l.e.s.s. Acting!

-Congrats to Ramsey Nouah's directing style; you can tell he's very serious about filmmaking and puts a great emphasis on quality.

-Casting new faces and veterans in the industry was a beautiful mélange

BLAND

-Ahanna was supposed to be sharp like a rattlesnake, however, his thought process and master plans were relatively simple

-Some logical issues could not be overlooked, e.g. The man in the opening scene who didn't scream while being lynched🤔

-The images in the South African scenes were sadly not cinematic: color grading was missing and lighting wasn't controlled

-Sound effects and score could have been better designed to create suspense, fear, and tension in some scenes

-The film was in dire need of some violence or more dynamic scuffles to elevate the momentum.

There is nothing new to see here for fans of this genre, you have your typical band of supposed to be likeable thieves, the tech savvy guy, the muscle guys, the one girl character who falls for the leader, the best friend of the leader who has issues, Bucci Franklin who tries to do a Michael Wright impression from the Sugarhill movie, the genius leader with internal conflicts, so all the usual tropes and cliche's that are in heist movies, it was fun watching to see if they missed any lol.

How could they get it so wrong? Despite all the technical innovations that weren't available to Amaka Igwe in 1995, she was still able to create a classic. Noah somehow managed to detribalize a well known classic ethnic movie that had enthralled its audience with its language and culture. The actors were sub par at best. There was poor directing at the beginning during Ahannas flashbacks when he witnessed a man being set ablaze. The man who was set on fire didn't act realistically,he remained really calm despite being on fire. This was one of many directing mistakes that could be identified in the movie.