The first-ever Nigerian family adventure film as well as the first-ever time traveler film finally saw the light of day and 2021 was the year that witnessed the release of this debut Nigerian sci-fi titled, Day of Destiny aka D.O.D.
Day of Destiny was written by a director who made his debut in the directing scene, Abosi Ogbamade and we can surely expect many more blockbuster movies from him. S
tarring superb Nollywood actors such as Ireti Doyle, Norbert Young, Denola Grey, Olumide Oworu, Toyin Abraham, Sammy Perry (Broda Shaggi), Jide Kosoko, Ini Dima-Okojie, Blossom Chukwu, Deyemi Okanlawon, and others.
Day of Destiny centers on two teenagers who because of the financial woes of their family seize an opportunity to change their bad fortunes by traveling 20 years back in time to when their parents first met. The two young boys Chidi (Olumide Oworu) and Rotimi (Denola Grey) try their best to make sure their father takes a deal which he refused in the present but they are not prepared for the consequences.
Now for you to want to do a sci-fi film, the storyline is super key because it can either make or mar the general idea and image that is being created. The storyline of this movie is fantastic as it doesn’t just foot the bill for a sci-fi movie, it can still work for a normal movie; it is a very fantastic storyline once again. One win for this movie is the fact that it is not predictable, at all. From the beginning to the end one is thrown from one curve to another and it is worth commending. Gone are the days we watch movies that we can tell the beginning from the end, when we are not God, (lol).
Moving onto the way the storyline was portrayed, the life given to this body of work, the characterization, we have to say the cast did a pretty good job. Starting from the lead characters, we definitely have to give it Denola Grey who played the role of Rotimi.
He literarily ate up his character. We saw Denola from another point of view and it was just amazing. For one whose forte isn’t acting, this fashion King did a fantastic job in every scene. The different shifts and emotions of the character of Rotimi were displayed perfectly. Good job man!!! Olumide Oworu (Chidi) was not left out at all, it got to a point that I felt like punching him because he was just too hard-headed. As an actor, when you can get your audience to that point, you are surely doing well.
One can’t help but mention veterans like Jide Kosoko, Ireti Doyle, Norbert Young who ate up their roles, as usual, never falling below expectations, back to back. One character that stands out is Helena (Gbemi Akinlade). She was amazing, for someone who is a rising star in the movie industry, above the sky is definitely just her beginning.
The switch from humble last born to rude and party going Helen was remarkably beautiful. She did a terrific job, my Gawd!!! One can’t help but mention Broda Shaggi and Toyin Abraham, these two literally spiced up this entire body of work.
The taxi ride between Rotimi, Chidi, and the taxi driver was downright hilarious. That part should be framed and replayed back to back, (lol). It showed the expectations of Nigerians in the year 2000 compared to the reality of the present. Satire never looked so beautiful.
Ini Dima-Okojie and Blossom Chukwu (the young Bankole and Ifeoma) are not left out in the fantastic acting praise.
Another win for Day of Destiny is the musicality, my Gawd, right from the beginning, the music set the ball rolling and it maintained its standard to the end. One loophole of some Nollywood movies is the fact that after a fantastic start and middle, the end just waters everything down the drain. But this movie definitely created a graph for us as it reached its climax effortlessly. The ending of this movie is just beautiful, it can bring tears to your eyes, no cap.
Now one box which Day of Destiny didn’t check is the cinematographic balance. To an extent they did a good job yes, but come on, at a point especially when they showed them in the process of time traveling, Rotimi and Chidi were in 3D, like 3D, I laughed out loud.
Good concept but for what we see other industries doing and how far they have gone especially in the sci-fi department this just looked like a caricature.
It is understandable that is a first of its kind so things like this are expected. But that part in particular just highlighted the flaws Nollywood has currently, its technological backwardness especially in VFX. But we know one day we will get there, we just hope not to be too late.
Again the setting; the setting from one scene to another looked like they were trying to use an approach that we don’t quite understand because some scenes just looked off. The time-traveling thingy, the act of trying to recreate the year 2000, some details were just missing. This is where the costumes, make-up, and settings come into play majorly and we can’t quite say they did a fantastic job at it.
But it is worth mentioning and commenting that they did not make the time travel-thingy happen from a calabash or give it a religious undertone. Still on the recreation of the year 2000, what was the writer of this script thinking when they brought those two boys to act as Plantashun Boiz, like I’m lost, like!!! This tragedy could have been prevented, time spent acting the ill representation of 2Face and Plantashun Boiz could have been spent doing something better or on a better scene.
Again, the actions in some scenes were just fake, the slap scene, come on, we literarily saw Ireti Doyle clap her hands together, that slap trick is one of the oldest in the books and it’s amazing Nollywood is still using it.
Still, on the character of Ireti Doyle, when the boys came back into the year 2020, they googled their mother and she was wearing a red beret and an Ankara; in the next scene we see their mother here in real life putting on that same cloth and beret that was on her profile, come on, what are Nigerians thinking about when they gather together to shoot movies. How did they even locate her house to start with, and how were they paying for all the transportation they were entering!!!
These unanswered question just goes to show that Nollywood filmmakers need to pay attention to detail.
Also, what was Mr Macaroni doing in this movie, his scene was so irrelevant and seriously uncalled, my Gawd. At this age and stage, are we still shooting movies where we insert some scenes and characters for the sake of insertion, come on!!! That party scene looked so fake like a real Yoruba party would definitely not look like that.
This is one problem this movie, Day of Destiny has, the settings of the scenes could have just been better. The reality portrayed by the storyline is top-notch as back in 2000, Ifeoma cursed Chief Adediran that he will pay for all the women he has sexually harassed but fast forward to the present Chief and his family is doing superbly well and you who chose integrity, you are biting your fingers. Reality is portrayed here in ace, karma is a b*tch but I think she doesn’t stay in Nigeria.
Final Thoughts
The movie Day of Destiny is definitely worth commending, for the fact that it is one of the first of its kind and it came out wonderful irrespective of loopholes. D.O.D carries a deep message especially for youths out there and sheds light on some of the struggles parents go through. We definitely commend the brain behind this storyline.