Written by Emil Garuba cum Paul Rowlston and directed by Reuben Reng, comes this murder mystery thriller dramedy “Katangari Goes To Town”.
PLOT
Mr. Katangari, with an eye for details at investigations, continues to help out in his community to nab criminals even though he has retired as a detective inspector.
His life is going just the way he likes it in his lonely, 'beware of owner' bungalow fenced to the teeth until there’s a visit. He’s called to Abuja after the passing and funeral of his billionaire cousin, Chief Bello Gyang. Everyone in the family, including the Pastor is a suspect.
Imbibing a total lock down approach to solving this murder case, will Katangari be successful at fishing out the culprit?
MY TAKE
This movie is proof that you don’t necessarily need a cast ensemble that consists of skit makers and/or comedians to make it a comedy or give that comic appeal. The effortless droplets of humour lines made this possible.
When the village bandits went “he has children, we can’t kïll him” I was already laughing.
The sound score, settings, props, costume, pace, colour grading, cinematography, direction, storyline, plot, all worked together perfectly to make this a masterpiece.
Katangari, and his makeup in a Professor Wole Soyinka-like kinda fashion was epic! He took on the role and interpreted every bit of it like he was specifically born for it.
All the others did their thing and delivered well, but one that stood out for me is Chief Bello’s current wife, Sofia Gyang, played by Munachi Abii. I love her command of the English language.
Ma’am Ireti Doyle is beginning to appear like she’s always acting the same kind of role in movies these days where she’s seen as a character not so lovable or one to be wary of. She often plays it well, though.
Those peacocks were paid actors cause they were such lovely sight to behold. I particularly loved when the peacocks spread their feathers. So elegant, so beautiful! I super loved it!
I loved the warm feeling the village scene at the beginning gave. The tempo, interior, and exterior decor all played out well. I loved Chief Bello’s speech - not very cliche. I love the sound of the names used. As this was set in Abuja and the family background too, there were sprinkles of the Hausa language, which was cool.
If you ask me, I’d say “Mr. Katangari and his Shagari” would have been a more catchy title. I love the title used all the same…it captures the entire plot more. But wait, a sec…does Shagari not have seatbelts?
Although this movie was unpredictable and like a typically well written murder mystery movie, the least obvious suspect was the culprit which turned out great, however, from the get-go, as I did a crossline puzzle and eliminated all murder motives, one person stood out and the reason I thought up in my head was 'on a mission to revenge.' It turned out exactly so.
I will not blame this on the direction of the movie, but rather on the fact that I’ve seen that many thrillers and movies within this genre and i can easily do my maths in this regard.
It was a clever plot nevertheless, and one major factor which worked in its favor was the fact that not very well known or popular faces were used for some roles. Hence, concealing the kïller was pretty doable to a certain degree.
In another light, there were clues, trails, and crumbs littered here and there, so it was a mystery somewhat easy to solve yet intelligently crafted. So, I’ll give it to the writers, director and producer.
Mr. Katangari pointed at a graveyard in the land he occupied. I'm not sure if it was later highlighted who was buried there. His wife? His kid(s)? Nothing was mentioned of his personal life apart from being a lonely, grumpy, astute, retired but not tired detective. Or maybe I missed something.
There were some misplaced tenses from Miwa on two occasions. For instance “...when I heard Miss Sofia ‘screamed’”
Also, there were some inconsistencies, especially as there was a mention that autopsy results showed “…no sign of foul play…!” but doctor says “…Bello was murdered!” How?
Moreso, how realistic is it asking everyone to stay put indefinitely under a building for an investigation? Even the police would only ask people not to travel out of state or so.
Overall, this was enjoyable, entertaining, intriguing, suspenseful, and engaging to watch. I loved the ending and the lesson to draw up “when it comes to family, family isn’t about charity!” This is an interesting story well executed.
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