Bad Black
Ugandan action cinema doesn’t so much play by the rules as rip them up, staple them back together, and yell “Action!” Bad Black comes from the same gloriously chaotic crew behind Who Killed Captain Alex?—and yes, Captain Alex himself stumbles back from the dead, if only for a blink. The legendary “Video Joker” returns too, gleefully heckling the film as if he’s sitting next to you, cracking jokes over every gunshot, fistfight, and bargain-bin explosion.
At 72 minutes you’d expect breezy fun, but the chaos soon circles back on itself. The same gags and wild shootouts repeat, like a mixtape rewound one too many times. There’s energy to spare, but the ideas run thin before the bullets do.
Still, it’s hard not to resist. Cheap, scrappy, and stitched together with raw enthusiasm, it captures what makes Wakaliwood endearing. Bad Black isn’t as engaging as its cult predecessor, but it wears its fuzzy edges and booming voiceovers like a badge of honour.
At 72 minutes you’d expect breezy fun, but the chaos soon circles back on itself. The same gags and wild shootouts repeat, like a mixtape rewound one too many times. There’s energy to spare, but the ideas run thin before the bullets do.
Still, it’s hard not to resist. Cheap, scrappy, and stitched together with raw enthusiasm, it captures what makes Wakaliwood endearing. Bad Black isn’t as engaging as its cult predecessor, but it wears its fuzzy edges and booming voiceovers like a badge of honour.
Mini Review: Uganda’s Bad Black rips up the rulebook, stitched together with scrappy chaos and raw enthusiasm. From the makers of Who Killed Captain Alex?, it brings back the “Video Joker” to heckle every punch and explosion. At 72 minutes the gags and shootouts repeat, but its cheap, gleeful energy is hard to resist. Less engaging than its cult predecessor, it still wears its fuzzy edges and booming voiceovers like a badge of honour.