Nollywood comedy film Chief Daddy 2: Going for Broke has been slammed by moviegoers and reviewers since its premiere on Netflix on New Year’s Day.
The film is a sequel to the original Chief Daddy film, which was released in 2018 which was produced by EbonyLife’s Mo Abudu and was directed by Niyi Akinmolayan.
The movie is criticized for its lack of good storytelling which lacks continuity of the tone of the character from the first movie. Despite its star-studded ensemble, which includes rapper Falz and Nollywood giants Shaffy Bello, Funke Akindele-Bello, and Joke Silva, the overwhelming impression is that the sequel would have been better served by a better narrative and direction.
The lead cast of the movie includes Shaffy Bello, Funke Akindele-Bello, Joke Silva, Kate Henshaw-Nuttal, Rahama Sadau, Mawuli Gavor, Beverly Naya, Falz, Linda Ejiofor, Beverly Osu, Ini Edo, Broda Shaggy, Uzor Arukwe, Zainab Balogun, Rachel Oniga, Nedu Wazobia, and Chigul.
The movie follows the Beecroft family as they get ready to spend the inheritance of the chief daddy whose character died in the last movie but are met with some obstacles in form of Laila, another secret daughter of the late chief who comes to break the news that she the CEO of the Beecroft Industries and the majority shareholder.
In the film, the inquiries and eyebrow-raising situations seem never-ending. For example, many movie-watchers asked “When Chief died, where was this lady the entire time, and how did she become the CEO?” There was no backstory to that plot point, and it was only the beginning of the movie’s plot issues.
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According to a Nigerian movie review social media blog (@NgMovies_Reviews) on their Twitter post, “the least they could do was actually do a little research to show the logical process of how someone becomes the majority shareholder in a company. How about other board members, Why was the company’s expansion effort affecting the personal will of the deceased MD? How come the family lawyer was unaware that there was a new majority shareholder?” said the reviewer.
Another significant error in the film includes Falz, who plays the late chief’s only legitimate son Femzy, having to travel to Dubai to try to revive his dying music career by meeting people who could support it and take it to a higher level than it appears. Despite the fact that Falz was the best performer, fans couldn’t help but observe how he squandered his acting talent on such poor scripting.
Moviegoers and critics questioned the participation of actors such as Ini Edo, Nkem Owoh, Patience Uzokwo, and Shaffy Bello, who appeared to be lost in the tale and had little or no screenplay, making their presence in the film redundant.
Kate and Funke are abrasive in the film’s love triangle with newcomer Uzor Arukwe, who plays Sonny, the personal assistant to the entrained majority shareholder daughter Laila, and how he has enough money to buy two houses for both of them, as well as other expensive gifts, to keep the two sisters as love interests.
Ireti, played by Zainab Balogun, transforms from a compassionate psychologist in the first instalment to a vindictive YouTuber who exposes the family secrets in the second instalment.
Mauwi’s footballer character storyline with so much money and injury problems, as well as his love story with other actress Beverly Naya, who played Ada in the film, appeared to be quite tiresome to the audience.
According to the Twitter user @NgMovies_Reviews, the movie squandered its talented cast on a plot that should have been an Instagram skit.
Sodas and Popcorn a popular movie critic website gave the movie a 1 out of 5 ratings. According to the site “the first drawback of this sequel is the large cast which results in too many characters getting stories and yet giving this movie nothing in terms of subplot. It’s ironic how, by giving its characters too much, it leaves the film with too little,” they said.
Chief daddy ii is not so much a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth, as it is one of the too many cooks over a bad broth with bad ingredients. This is a sequel that doesn’t justify its existence and the amateurishness of it all is so overt, you’d be tempted to wonder if it was deliberate,” they concluded.
The series of sequels with unsuccessful storytelling is one of the many reasons Nollywood continues to get negative reviews despite years of hard work by filmmakers to improve in their cinematography. Mo Abudus sequel to the wedding party also got similar criticism as the storyline did not work well with viewers citing the movie as an unnecessary follow-up to its first instalment.
Diedre’s (Daniella Down) and Nonso’s (Enyinna Nwigwe) friendship blossoms into marriage, which elevates the plot. This is a commentary on interracial dating and marriage, as well as the unneeded ruckus it causes in Nigeria. Although we had hoped they would shed additional light on the subject, they instead focused on flamboyance. The same can be said about Chief Daddy 2, where the narrative might have been used to present a story about polygamy and family inheritance and the need for proper will documentation, but instead, they only portrayed once again flamboyance.
