Awfully Good: Wakaliwood's Bad Black

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

The summer's best action movie is here…

Bad Black (2016)

Director: Nabwana I.G.G.
Stars: Nalwanga Gloria, Alan Hofmanis, Bukenya Charles, VJ Emmie

An epic crime saga of bloodthirsty revenge, forbidden love, and a child named Wesley Snipes who trains a clueless American to be kung fu master.

In a summer filled with disappointing blockbusters and tired franchise sequels, Wakaliwood's BAD BLACK is a joyful breath of fresh air.

If you’re not familiar with Wakaliwood, I highly suggest you read our Awfully Good review of WHO KILLED CAPTAIN ALEX? for a full breakdown. But here's the Cliff's Notes: movie fan and self-taught filmmaker Isaac Nabwana operates his own makeshift movie studio out of his village in Wakaliga, Uganda. Nabwanna, with the help of his team and their local community, has been pumping out films since 2005. They do it all—act, shoot, build their own props, choreograph their own fights, and make their own special effects—all for little to no money. And while their movies may be literally one-millionth the budget of most Hollywood productions, they contain more love and ingenuity than anything you've seen in a theater this year.

Continuity is key in the Wakaliwood Cinematic Universe.

You know how Gareth Evans followed up THE RAID with a lofty sequel that was equal parts THE GODFATHER and an action movie? Nabwana takes something of a similar approach here, piecing together a film that's bigger and more complex than CAPTAIN ALEX, but still delivers on the fun and the thrills. Not to mention, this movie cost $65 to make and its most memorable action hero should be in kindergarten.

There's truly a little something here for even the most demanding cinephile: A gangster revenge story centered on the title character violently going after everyone who wronged her, a Dickensian exploration of child gangs and trafficking in Africa, and a drama about the class struggle between the have and have-nots of Ugandan society—all parsed through Wakaliwood's unique sensibilities. Hell, there's even a brief romance, although the movie refers to it as "a love story…LOVE OF ACTION!"…so you know where its priorities lie.

The plot may be a bit messy (mostly necessitated by which actors were available), but there's plenty of shootouts, kung fu brawls and intentional hilarity to tie it all together, as well as some legitimate twists and turns to keep the story intriguing.

Always bet on BAD BLACK

However, my personal favorite subplot (and the clear winner with the audience) involves a visiting American doctor and a young boy named Wesley Snipes. When the doctor has his possessions stolen by Bad Black, the child assumes the grown man as his pupil, becoming the "Ugandan Miyagi" and training him to be a "commando" to get his stuff back. This part is a blast, mainly because the kid who plays Wesley is a natural star with great delivery, but also due to the fact that it's just plain fun seeing a child put an adult through the ringer. Watch as Wesley Snipes throws assorted vegetables at his adult apprentice, makes him crawl through the village's sewer-filled ditches, and often times just berates the doctor's face with a good old-fashioned slap.

The doctor is played by Alan Hofmanis, a Wakaliwood fan from New York who originally traveled to Uganda to offer his support. That quickly turned in to Nabwana giving Hofmanis a crash course in martial arts and immediately putting him in BAD BLACK. It also gave Nabwana and his friends a chance to say they beat up a real, live American. During a post-screening Q&A, Hofmanis said pretty much the entire village turned out when they heard he was there, all taking turns chasing and attacking him for the movie, garnering more footage than they could possibly ever use. (Hofmanis has since stayed in Uganda and now acts as a de facto ambassador and business partner for Wakaliwood.)

The other, other white meat.

It's clear that Nabwana has a deep affection for cinema (despite tragically never having the chance to actually go to a real movie theater). BAD BLACK sees the director picking and choosing elements and tropes from some of his favorite films, the majority of which are clearly 80s action movies. (In case all the talk of "commandos" and the characters named Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis didn't clue you in.)

The director also undoubtedly got his action sensibilities from the John MicTiernans and Carpenters of the decade, which is not a bad pedigree to aspire to. The results are action scenes that are legitimately good—car chases with great energy, shootouts with clear geography, and martial art fights that aren't cut to hell. (The most amazing thing about the kung fu choreography is that the stars have no formal training and originally learned it simply by reading old magazines and manuals.) Everything may be shot on the cheap with effects that may not be ultra realistic, but it's still clear that Nabwana has some serious chops and a great eye. Just watch the opening action sequence in the video below and you can imagine what the filmmaker could do with real money and not shooting on a green screen inside his living room.

Some things are just universal no matter where you live in the world.

Another highlight of the Wakaliwood experience continues to be VJ Emmie, who provides colorful commentary to explain or react to all the insanity that's happening onscreen. Having a "video DJ" sounds a little like MST3K, but it's completely different and something wholly unique to Wakaliwood and Uganda. Emmie uses his mastery of "tongue-fu" throughout BAD BLACK to punch up the action (yelling "Non stop deadly kicks!" or making his own "vroom vroom" sound effects during a car chase); provide tidbits of background in to Ugandan culture, some serious and some not ("Ugandan key" may become part of the international lexicon); and deliver some savage one-liners. When the American medical professional-turned-commando finally goes on a violent rampage to get his passport back, VJ Emmie screams my favorite line of 2019: “This doctor needs borders!”

After you finish watching BAD BLACK you may, like me, begin pondering all the other movies that could benefit from having a VJ spice things up.

Thanks for the reminder, VJ Emmie!

I was lucky enough to see this at a screening with Alan Hofmanis in attendance and Isaac Nabwanna, who called in via Skype from Uganda at 4 a.m. Listening to the ins-and-outs of how they make these films and the passion that goes in to it makes their story as inspirational as their movies are fun. And if you love CAPTAIN ALEX and BAD BLACK, you can rest easy knowing that Wakaliwood has many more films in the can awaiting release. There's a child martial arts epic called CRAZY WORLD (shot in HD and made in part to deter real-life kidnapping of Ugandan children), a cannibal film called EATEN ALIVE IN UGANDA, an action flick titled UGANDAN EXPENDABLES, and an insane-sounding movie about a drunk pumpkin that comes to life and becomes a serial killer.

Big things are potentially happening for Wakaliwood and rightfully so. It's one of the best things going on in film anywhere in the world.

SWAAAAZZZZ

BAD BLACK is out this week on DVD/Blu Ray. The film is also still on tour in the United States through the beginning of August if you're lucky enough to see it on the big screen.