‘Jagun Jagun’ scores 2 million global views and still counting
On display is the craftsmanship revealing horse-riding warriors as they waged wars of conquest against threatening oppositions.
By Ayodele Johnson
A positive start for the new Nigerian epic title, ‘Jagun Jagun’ considering what the charts are showing on Netflix.
In terms of the views garnered on the streaming platform so far, data has revealed up to 2.1 million unique streams in just a week of its release. The number validates all the shiny reviews that have welcomed its launch on August 10, 2023. Netflix keeps a Global Top 10 table which is a weekly list of the most-watched TV and films. There, ‘Jagun Jagun’, a deep dive into the fears and ambitions of warlords in their thirst for glory, has occupied the fifth spot.
Reviewing the movie’s performance from a country perspective, the record shows it owns the topmost position in the Nigeria segment. And that is a credit to the creative endeavours that went into delivering such a masterpiece. Nollywood co-directors Tope Adebayo and Adebayo Tijani keep setting higher bars and this picture reflects that.
This time around, ‘Jagun Jagun’ was able to avoid most of the past mistakes that render epics to become somewhat tasteless to the appreciation of the viewers.
Starring Femi Adebayo (Ogunjimi) and Lateef Adedimeji (Gbotija) as opposing figures, the movie administers dutifully all the essentials that any competent war-based movie must depict. The realistic fighting scenes and matching costumes made sure of that. Also on display is the craftsmanship revealing horse-riding warriors as they waged wars of conquest against threatening oppositions. All these features, as basic as they are, were mostly absent in the previous input.
It is for these reasons that critics are switching their old condescending tone in favour of unusually generous praise of an epic. When compared to another fantasy epic ‘King of Thieves’ by the co-directors Tope Adebayo and Adebayo Tijani, which also starred Femi Adebayo, two hours, 14 minutes-long ‘Jagun Jagun’ has been complimented as raising the stake with regards to how future epics ought to be presented to an audience.
Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.
