Who Killed Captain Alex? is still the most fun you can have for free
The Wakaliwood action film made for less than the price of a phone is loud, ridiculous and better than it has any right to be.
There is a moment early in Who Killed Captain Alex? when you stop asking whether this is a good film and start asking why every film isn’t like this.
Nabwana I.G.G. made it in 2010 in Wakaliga, a neighbourhood in Kampala, with his studio Ramon Film Productions. The budget was reported at under $200. The helicopters are computer graphics that look like they were drawn on a phone. The guns are welded together from scrap. And none of it matters, because everyone on screen is giving it everything they have.
The VJ makes it
Wakaliwood films are watched with the VJ: the “video joker”, a narrator who talks over the film like a friend who has seen it ten times and wants you to enjoy it too. VJ Emmie is on every Wakaliwood release, and his running commentary turns Captain Alex from a cheap action film into a comedy you share with a room. He hypes the fights, mocks the villains, and tells you what’s coming before it does.
Watch it with the VJ. Without him it’s a curiosity. With him it’s a party.
Why it matters
The trailer went viral around the world, and the full film has passed ten million views on YouTube. That’s more people than most festival films ever reach. Captain Alex proved that a studio in Wakaliga could make something the whole internet wanted to watch, on its own terms, without anyone’s permission.
Worth it?
It’s free on the official Wakaliwood YouTube channel, and it’s about an hour long. Get some friends, put it on the biggest screen in the house, and don’t take it seriously. It certainly doesn’t.