Le détournement

Where do I even start? This film has its ups and downs, but honestly, the negatives really overshadow the positives.

Let's start off with the good: the four actors playing the hijackers were pretty solid, especially Owiwi and Iku. The movie at some point stuck to the thriller vibe, with some genuinely tense moments. I also liked how the hijackers slowly began to realize their mission has failed, I think that part was done well. And I couldn't help but chuckle at the subtle shade on dentists not being "real doctors." That part genuinely made me laugh out loud.

Now, onto the bad: this movie is a total mess. I could go on and on about its flaws, seriously, I could write a thousand-word essay about it. The characters had zero backstory or distinct personality, so there was really no reason for us to care about any of the characters. At some point you couldn't tell who was who, I lost track on some of the characters (even though they weren't a lot of them) And let's be real, the acting from about 90% of the cast was pretty subpar.

And I get that it's based on real events from 1993, but it didn't feel like a movie set in the '90s at all. At some point, you forget this happened in the early 90s with their modern guns and vehicles. Honestly it was laughable

Another thing that wasn't done right was the hijackers being portrayed as a bunch of young guys looking for "social change" by taking on a military-backed government. This is a very oversimplified take on their real motives, which were more about protesting the annulment of the 1993 election in Nigeria. If they had focused on the actual political tensions, show us the political events that led to the whole thing, it would've made the film way more engaging and educational for anyone interested in Nigeria's history.

I also feel this movie would've benefitted from a closer look at the meticulous planning of the hijackers and the psychological pressure or mental stress of the passengers, it could have really cranked up the suspense, you know like those classic thrillers that draw you into the hijacker's and passengers emotional rollercoaster.

I know the the film touches on some government criticism, but it completely misses out on the broader historical context, like the political climate under General Babangida, which was crucial in shaping the real life hijacker's motivations. Adding that context would have clarified the hijackers' desperation and the bigger impact of their actions on Nigerian society.

I could keep going, but honestly, I just wish Nollywood would put in a bit more effort into movies, especially those that hinge on historical context.

An illusion of a Thriller

I heard a lot about this movie from my friends. Out of curiosity, I decided to watch it. When I finished watching this movie, the realisation dawned on me that if I want to use the European and American stand point to critique this movie, I may be misjudging it.

Thus I decided to view the African standard to evaluate the movie and I was sad to say , it even fell short of that standard.

First , the movie built up a false tension and I was really geared up to see a thriller that would sway me. It takes just five minutes for me to revise my expectations because the tension and heart thumbing scenes I wanted to watch never materialised.

Secondly, I saw very little fear from the passengers. Even those ones look fake. This made the scenes unrealistic and hijacking a plane lean itself into fear and disorderliness.

Third, the movie did a flashback on the background of the hijackers which doesn't connect well with their reasons for hijacking a plane. I mean the relationship between the flashbacks and the terrorists' motive for hijacking the planes was unclear and ambiguous.

In the fourth place, the movie failed wholly to capitalise on the historical antecedent of the movie,which was the 1993 hijack of Nigerian Airways to lay a good background and context for the movie. Example , it could have created scenes or do a flashback to 17 November 1993 where Abacha toppled the interim government in a palace coup and then dissolved the legislature, as well as the state and local governments, and replaced the elected civilian state governors with military and police officers. This would have directly helped the viewers to understand why the young adults were attempting to hijack a plane to protest the usurpation of a democratically elected government.

Another observation is that, the characters themselves didn't seem to have enough background knowledge on their scripts. They took the script on the face value instead of digging deeper to get some context and setting for the movie.

Moreover , the actors and the entire set up didn't reflect a 1993 setting. Look at the guns, technology,clothes and food they're wearing. It doesn't look like the people were doing the hijacking in 1993. It looked too modern. This blatant anachronistic error cannot escape the critical eye.

In addition to all these, one can observe that the plane flew for just a few minutes and was forced to land. From that point on there are more talking in the landed plane than action. This quickly took the steam of the movie and reduced it to a mere talk show.

Finally, there were many unnecessary scenes like the subtle reference to a dentist not been a proper doctor,The excuse given by the supposed parliamentarian to go and urinate and trying to bribe one of the hijackers,the subtle attraction between one of the terrorists and the interpreter, the presence of the military men in the plane.

In summation, this movie is good for entertainment purposes but not a good enough one if you want to watch a real thriller.

Stumbling upon the 2024 movie "Hijack '93" and never having heard about it, of course I opted to check it out and see what director Robert Peters had to offer.

Writer Musa Jeffery David put together script that had potential, though I have to say that it ended up turning out somewhat bland and generic. There are far better airplane hijacking movies readily out there. The narrative suffers from being one that is rather devoid of anything thrilling or overly compelling. There is a whole lot of standing around talking and waving a gun around, but that is essentially the majority of the movie. And that just doesn't constitute being an entertaining movie in my book.

Given my very, very limited exposure to the Nigerian cinema, of course I wasn't familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list. The acting performances in the movie were fair enough, though I can't single out anyone as being more extraordinary than the next.

It was somewhat of a struggle to sit through the movie, as there wasn't a whole lot of anything exciting or interesting happening.

This is definitely not a thriller that I would recommend for you to spend 87 minutes on watching. Some of us sat through this ordeal, so you don't have to; you're quite welcome.

My rating of "Hijack '93" lands on a generous two out of ten stars.

Hijacking 93 sets out to tell a suspenseful story based on a high-stakes, real-life incident, but unfortunately, it struggles to maintain momentum and tension throughout. The film offers a promising start, with an intense setup that draws you in, but the pacing quickly falters as scenes feel drawn out and repetitive.

While the cast makes an earnest attempt to bring depth to their roles, the character development feels shallow. Key emotional moments lack impact, leaving a sense of disconnect from the characters and story. The production value and special effects are decent, adding a touch of realism, but the screenplay's lack of energy limits the film's potential.

Overall, Hijacking 93 is an average thriller that doesn't quite deliver on its premise. It's watchable, but it may not leave a lasting impression, making it a movie that's better suited for a casual, one-time viewing.

Unlike other reviewers, I did feel like the tension was largely maintained throughout the film. I intended to watch it as I did chores around the house, but I instead ended up glued to my seat (it's a pretty short film, so that helps).

I do think that there could have been a bit more backstory for the hijackers to help us better understand their motives. And yes, at times, the background actors (hostages) didn't look as scared as I would imagine they'd be.

If you're looking for an entertaining movie with a decent degree of tension and intensity, you'd like this. It's not going to necessarily blow you away, but to me it felt like an intriguing take on a real-life incident.