Movie Reviews
Shanty Town Review: A Tale Of Crime, Deceit And Dark Politicking
Shanty Town: A Tale Of Politics, Crime And Deceit
The series starts at a brisk speed and from a powerful position, establishing tension from the opening scenes. We see a ghetto or community being overrun by gunmen; smashing people’s head, shooting sporadically with no mercy while an odd upbeat war song play in the background.
Shanty Town is about a group of female sex workers (Mercy Eke, Nancy Isime and others) who are trying to escape the slum of the Shanty Town in Lagos, where they are subjected to the brutal rule of a kingpin named Scar (Chidi Mokeme). Scar, though, won’t give the girls up so easily as they are part of his money making machine.
Just like the ladies, Scar is not a free man. Scar is subservient to Chief Fernandez (Richard Mofe-Damijo), a wealthy politician whose run for governor necessitates the suspension of some of their unlawful activities. And if that weren’t enough, Scar also has to deal with Dame Dakota (Shaffy Bello). And she’d like to be governor, too. So, using the Chief’s own son, Femi (Mr P), as bait, she forces Scar to join her in bringing down the Chief.
Shanty Town tells a story about human nature by weaving a story of lies and deceit within a story of crime and romance. It shows the Nigeria political scene and many wild things happening underground.
The series makes use of good cinematography, however, there are too many unnceccesary fighting scenes. It is good that Nollywood is leaning towards making crime thriller but Shanty Town relied so much on monologue than dialogue, especially its heavy repetition, makes for a tedious viewing experience.
At the end, Shanty Town still remains what it is. Nigeria is still “Nigeria”.
Rating: 7/10
