Movie review: The Creek is full of action, super technicalities, but poor plots

When we decided to go see The Creek at the cinema, we were full of expectations. The movie’s poster was amazing; it almost made us mistake the movie for a Hollywood production. However, certain things about the movie let us down.

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The Creek is about kidnapping, gangsterism, oil bunkering and everything chaotic one can find in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

Directed by Toka Mcbaror, the movie stars Charles Inojie, Bucci Franklin, Chinwe Owoh, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Kelechi Udegbe, Sam Dede, and Sunshine Rosman.

The Creek threw many plots at viewers, most of which were not exploited properly. For instance, we were expecting to see where the relationship between the female journalist and a military personnel was going to end up. However, that plot was not explored, leaving us wondering why it was even included in the movie. We also wondered why the journalist on a dangerous mission of investigating the criminality in the creeks had to be a lady, a beautiful one, for that matter, when in reality, no pretty lady would want to risk going into the lion’s den. We believe the actress who portrayed the journalist, Sunshine Rosman, was selected for the role because of her beauty. In the real world, pretty journalists sit in the office, especially in the Business Desk, not in the creeks investigating AK-47-wielding people with substance abuse disorder.

The Creeks is packed with action and some amazing stunts, like the several explosions ignited by the militants. Unfortunately, some of the shooting scenes were not well-choreographed. The actors hardly looked like they were firing shots. In some cases, their acting was way more than the action expected of someone wielding an AK-47. The guns used in this movie were mostly AK-47s. If the directors had made them actually fire shots with those guns, maybe their acting would have been real and impressive.

Technically Marvellous

While the shooting scenes reek of poor acting, the sound effects helped cover up some of the lapses. It seems some foreign professionals were hired to work on this movie. The sounds that accompanied the bomb explosions reminded us of Mad Max: Fury Road. Every sound was proper.

What blew us away about this movie is the colour grading, which is almost a step closer to what is obtainable in Hollywood. The way the colourist worked on some scenes in this movie reminded us of the Hollywood movie The Extraction. This movie makes use of greenish teal in the shadows, warm highlights and brownish midtones. The colour grade perfectly captured the chaotic creeks of the Niger Delta.

The movie’s imagery immediately transports you to what the Niger Delta was like at the height of militancy. The directors deserve commendation for the amazing locations and for the way they designed the militants’ den. The set design reminded us of what we used to see on TV during the height of militancy in the Niger Delta. The use of canoes and speed boats also added to the creek vibes.

The Creeks is the kind of movie you watch for action, not for storyline, because the plots are numerous and hardly connected. The ones that connected were not well-explored. With its technical quality, The Creek gives the impression that the directors had the key to success but didn’t know which door to open with it. The movie gets a 6/10.