I know that by now, everyone in the Yoruba-speaking world has seen Anikulapo: Rise of the Spectre.
The production, of course, is crisp and has all the trappings of a typical Yoruba epic movie: costumes, tribal marks, set pieces, props, etc.
Anikulapo: Rise of the Spectre boasts an impressive collection of Nollywood legends and new actors.
It has a heart. It has mystical beings.
It has greed, it has Saro being Saro; it has culture; it has traditions; it has a combination of Sisi Quadri, Ewatomilola, and Layi Wasabi with their caustic tongues, and it has Aunty Ramota. Lol.
Can you remember that Saro died at the end of Part 1 because he overplayed his hand? Very good! Now, he is at heaven’s gate, longing to go in and rest from a lifetime of womanizing working.
But the angel at the gate refused him entry, reminding him that he'd messed with the balance of life and death and, therefore, had to go back to undo what he had done and do what he had undone.
He is transformed into a ghost and sent on his way, subsequently managing to kill three people before they start following him around.
Meanwhile, Arolake travels far and wide to get away from everything and anything that reminds her of her shitty past. In the process, she meets a batch of strange creatures who, for one reason or the other, decide to help her.
She becomes rich overnight and meets a guy who loves her like life itself. But for unknown reasons other than the fact that the producers want to drive the plot forward, she decides to go back to Alaafin.
It was left vague who exactly she ended up with.
Oyo is thrown into chaos, both internal, due to Arolake’s actions in part 1 and their external invasions from Kuranga, a mighty warrior. Bashorun, the unhinged Oyo’s Army General and Alaafin’s arch nemesis, increasingly becomes ambitious and greedy as the story progresses.
This becomes his undoing, as he eventually inherits Saro’s ghosts and problems, leaving Saro to either materialize in another place as a wraith or die in peace.
The movie was vague about it.
You are still reading? Good!
**Warning! Spoilers ahead**
I feel Saro didn't get a lot of character development in Anikulapo: Rise of the Spectre. He was sent back to the world as a ghost to kill all those he raised from the dead during his brief stint as Anikulapo.
He tried to kill one of the people he raised. She took pity on him and turned him into a wraith with the condition that he wouldn’t kill her. He became a wraith and moved into another village.
Nothing happened except that the three people he had initially killed became ghosts and were following him everywhere.
He begged them for three more years to put his affairs in order, and courtesy of them, he started selling palm wine that had just materialized in his backyard.
Nothing happened to him.
He married the daughter of his rival in business and got her pregnant.
Nothing happened to him.
He was kidnapped and brought back to Oyo, and his necklace, his link to life and death, was snatched from him. Nothing happened to him.
From an extended study of Yoruba beliefs about wraiths and ghosts, I know that wraiths don’t come in contact with those who knew them when they were alive and know they are dead. Saro saw Arolake, touched her, and was even able to give her the much-needed closure and apology. I guess this is artistic license playing out here. Whatever happened to his other wives in Ojumo Village? We never found out.
Arolake… what were they thinking they did with her character? She saw the Akala bird, stole something of the Akala bird, and gave it to a man. There was no punishment for her.
The outcome?
The Akala bird crying all over the village for a sacrifice, killing innocent people and giving the Ifa priest sleepless nights.
To further complicate her issue, she slept in the forest and instead was rewarded with a bag of unlimited money. Then, she met another man, Akin, who fell in love with her- I mean the head-over-hills-can-move-mountains kind of love. She could have loved him back, and they could have had a fantastic relationship in affluence, but instead, she turned him into her errand boy to carry messages to her ex-husband, Alaafin, a man she didn’t even love from the start.
Of course, there is zero character development. I am still wrapping my head around the fact that she didn’t see Akin to be worthy of her love.
Every good story definitely should have a villain, and Anikulapo: Rise of the Spectre was no exception. Our villain here is Bashorun, who has all the qualities of every villain you can think of.
Inordinate ambition. Check. Greed for power, money, and everything that comes in between. Check. A motive for being an asshole to everybody. Check. Power of persuasion with tools like charms or super strength. Check. Drop-dead handsome looks. Check-check!
Owobo Ogunde is foooine!
There is a pointless fight with Kuranga, Ede's gatekeeper, who can’t speak Yoruba. We don’t know if his character is supposed to be Hausa or Yoruba. But the very good-looking Uzee Usman plays him, so all is forgiven. I guess.
Bashorun also has no redeeming qualities whatsoever; he becomes more unhinged as the story progresses. He went from bad to worse to worse! He is also a bloody hypocrite, seeing his son, Awolaran, as a disappointment for being a simp for Princess Omowunmi while being, himself, shameless for Awarun.
Enough said.
Then, there is the silly love triangle between Princess Omowunmi, Awolaran, and Kuranga. I mean, Omowunmi is as shallow as a puddle!
She met Kuranga once, forgot about her friendship, her love, and her history with Awolaran, and jumped right into his arms. Who does that? When it didn’t work out with the bald, enigmatic stranger, she attempted to go back to Awolaran.
Let me rephrase that.
She sneaked into Awolaran’s room and expected him to accept her back with open arms. Lol!
It's clear that she deserves whatever Kuranga’s boys show her in Ede.
As expected of any Kunle Afolayan production, Anikulapo: Rise of the Spectre is top-notch. Beautiful scenery, props, costumes, sets, and everything else capture the real essence of this work of art.
I particularly loved the last two scenes. First, we see Bashorun, now the leader of the undead, courtesy of the necklace he stole from Saro, along with Sisi Quadri, who's delivering some wisecracks at Bashorun’s expense (we will miss Sisi Quadri sha!). And then, there is the scene showing Saro’s three women in the same space, posing with Saro’s offspring.
Kudos to the director for bringing everything to a satisfying end like that. This series is not lacking in any way, except probably for the Heaven’s Gatekeeper’s look.
We all know that The Goldfish has Albinism, and he is a brilliant actor. The director made an excellent choice in casting him as Heaven’s gatekeeper because folks with albinism are said to be mythical beings in Yoruba folklore.
It is absolutely brilliant! But what was with the wig? That thing on his head looked like spaghetti! That was the same way they did him dirty in Gangs of Lagos with that fake beard. It is not good o! Lol.
Cast members include: Kunle Remi, Bimbo Ademoye, Gabriel Afolayan, Lateef Adedimeji, Eyiyemi Afolayan, Uzee Usman, Sola Shobowale, Taiwo Hassan, Owobo Ogunde, Titi Kuti, Moji Afolayan, Aisha Lawal, Oyindamola Sanni, Isaac ‘Layi Wasabi’ Olayiwola, Abiola ‘Ewatomilola’ Fowosire, Moji Afolayan, Ronke ‘Oshodi Oke’ Ojo, Damilola ‘The Goldfish’ Ogunsi, Ropo Ewenla, Rasaq Olaywola, Toyin Afolayan, Shokoti Alagbedeorun, Kayode ‘Aderupoko’ Olaiya, Sunday Omobolanle, Adewale Elesho, Jide Kosoko, Adeniyi Johnson, Saeed ‘Funky Mallam’ Mohammed, Ikorodu Bois, Toyin Ogundeji, and also starring, Ramota ‘Aunty Ramota’ Adetu.
P.S: Anikulapo: Rise of the Spectre was Tolani ‘Sisi Quadri’ Oyebamiji’s last feature before his demise…
