“Who Killed Captain Alex?” is an entertaining Ugandan action-comedy flick that was released in 2010. While the director meant for it to be a treat for Ugandans and never meant for it to gain worldwide fame, it has since gained a fan following all over the world and become a cult classic. Some scenes have even gained notoriety as GIFs and memes. The reason behind its unexpected rise to fame despite it being made on a shoestring budget was mainly also because it was a passion project for everyone involved.
The plot itself is a simple one and revolves around mafia bosses waging a war against each other after the death of decorated officer Captain Alex, giving rise, of course, to its title and the unanswered question: who killed Captain Alex? This question is left unanswered in an ambiguous ending.
Simple plot aside, what stood out for me in this movie was the comical voiceover work by V.J. Emmie (V.J. stands for Video Joker) who is by far one of my favourite parts about this adrenaline rush of a movie. It is a treat to listen to him joke over the action sequences and add witty tongue-in-cheek ad libs in between the serious standoffs between characters. He also introduces the major characters like Bruce U (he’s called that because he is the ‘Bruce Lee of Uganda,’ by the way) in the most memorable manner.
I enjoyed the unintentionally (or maybe intentional? We’ll never know) humorous aspects, such as the sassy retorts of certain characters (a ‘yo mamma’ joke from out of nowhere, for example, had me in splits) and I savoured the comedic moments as much as I enjoyed the well choreographed action sequences (“everyone in Uganda knows kung fu,” interjects my favourite V.J. Emmie).
The only setback here for me were the special effects/CGI, but considering the budgetary constraints it is understandable why they aren’t as top quality as one would expect. But once you can look past those, this movie is truly a joy ride.
