The first few minutes of watching The Set Up 2 clearly give an idea of what the movie intends to achieve – a screenplay domesticating a Hollywood-themed storyline, a Jason Bourne or Mission Impossible message, and an exhibition of ‘Nigerianness’ in the portrayal of terrorism, security vigilance, and professional trickery.
It seems like this is what writer and director Chinaza Onuzo intends to make the movie achieve. Set in Lagos, Nigeria, The Set Up 2 shows a collaborative effort of security departments in fighting crime while providing dramatic allure with the intrigues and ambiguities of complex professional and personal relationships.
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The movie plunges into a series of revelations. Money launderer and terrorist accountant, Macintosh, is an undercover DOS agent. Usi is a pawn to a pawn – trained by a terrorist Madame, who is backed by the DOS Director.
The whole movie is a conceived set-up by systemic machinery of trickery. It shows a nation’s security department prodding terrorism, involved in drug trade, and engaging in sheer criminality. It also reflects the fight against these. The film makes a crystal reflection of the realities stacked up against the continental tussle to fend off war and criminality in Africa.
The drama starts to set in when the pawns begin to fight back. A designated terrorist group, Vindex – a clear allusion to vindication against being pawns in manipulative systems – ran by Usi leads a fight against the system.
However, the system clenches its way into revenge, devouring those closest to her – kidnapping her mother, killing her sibling. The movie, as it turns out, is Usi fighting for survival and vengeance, while her nemesis, Chike is fighting for the restoration of a bind severed bond, one caught up in Usi’s crusade.
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In one scene, a fight ensued in a public bar between agents and terrorist enforcers. The scene reeks of utter unrealism. The break into the safe of Macintosh, a shady accountant proudly speaking Igbo and promoting kickboxing, by Chike and her partner is a theatrical absurdity. This is a man that is stated to be untouchable by a government well-versed in his mode of operations!
This abysmal, illogical and almost impossible scenes linger throughout the course of the film; the ridiculous fistfights by acclaimed agents, the kidnap of Grace’s child, the bitcoin payments in millions to Chike kept in a device, in a purse, thrown a waste bin, a break-in into the terrorist hideout of Usi by Chike, a subservient relationship of a US Security Department to a Nigerian security agency; we can go on and on. It feels unreal. These are all pointers to failed attempts to adequately match the execution of the film and its acting with the message of the film.
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Nonetheless, the movie shines in certain spots. The chat between Jim Iyke and Nancy Isime on the dynamism of revenge is well-scripted. And both actors made an impressive delivery of it; no doubt due to their versatility.
Meanwhile, all that the movie lacks in script, acting and execution is well compensated for in cinematography. The movie’s clear shots and camera angles is well-reflective of its message. The proper exhibition of the buzz, highlife and slums of the Lagos landscape is breathtaking, and in touch with the Nigerian reality. This makes up for the movie’s evident faults, and balances a viewer’s experience in escorting the screenplay to its end.
The Set Up 2 lurks into the complexities of the fight against crime, and bonds that exists therein. It is a noble attempt. As much as it doesn’t seem to topple the cinematic experience of its prequel, it signifies a rise in the capabilities of the Nollywood film industry in handling delicate themes.
The Set Up 2 is screening in a cinema near you.
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Written By: Chinaza Onuzo
Directed By: Chinaza Onuzo
Lead Casts: Adesua Etomi, Kehinde Bankole, Nancy Isime, Kate Henshaw, Blossom Chuwkwujekwu, Jim Iyke