“Tokunbo” is Ramsey Nouah’s answer to “The Transporter”

Ramsey Nouah has Netflix covered with remaking the Transporter for a Nigerian audience through his film ‘Tokunbo’.

How much can you remake the Jason Statham movie The Transporter without making it feel stale? Say no more, as Ramsey Nouah, in his directorial debut, delivers Netflix’s Tokunbo.

On the surface, Tokunbo appears to be just a story about a father desperately trying to save his dying son while striving to live up to societal expectations of manhood. However, a closer look reveals the familiar plot of a chauffeur driving around Lagos, Nigeria, delivering packages without asking questions. Sound familiar? That’s because it’s essentially the storyline of The Transporter franchise, once headlined by British actor Jason Statham, who drove around in a sleek black Audi, transporting packages handed to him by shady individuals.

The titular character, Tokunbo, is a street hustler who, in addition to smuggling illegal vehicles for Chidi Mokeme’s character, Gaza, runs an Uber side hustle. But his life takes a turn when his son develops a heart condition that requires an expensive surgery, costing N9.5 million.

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Ramsey Nouah and his writing team draw on the current realities of Nigeria as a plot device, helping the audience empathize with Tokunbo, who has nothing valuable to his name to cover the cost of his son’s treatment. Enter a mysterious caller, played by Ghanaian actor Majid Micheal, whose return to the Nollywood screen is a delight for fans nostalgic for the “bad boy” vibe he perfected in his earlier roles.

Michael’s character presents himself as a ‘genie in a bottle,’ ready to grant Tokunbo his wish. The offer? N30 million if Tokunbo successfully transports a package beyond the Seme border, linking Nigeria to Benin Republic. Of course, this is not a foreign task for Tokunbo, who is introduced at the beginning of the film evading the police after smuggling a car for Gaza across the Seme border.

But here’s the twist—the package is not a parcel but a human being: the daughter of the CBN Governor, played by Tosin Adeyemi. Adeyemi’s character embodies the ‘girl boss’ archetype and a patriot determined to improve the country’s economic situation by championing policies to stabilize the naira. However, she faces opposition from self-centered elites unwilling to surrender their luxuries for the nation’s benefit.

The movie skillfully incorporates Nigeria’s current economic struggles as a plot device, injecting something fresh into this Transporter-esque story, albeit with humor and unique characters that bring the narrative to life. Unlike The Transporter’s high-octane action sequences and intense stunts, “Tokunbo” leans on its humor and grounded characters to sell its story.

However, despite its strengths, Tokunbo falls into some stereotypical Nollywood tropes. The film becomes predictable, with the audience knowing who the villains are long before the second act. There are no real stakes or consequences, leaving viewers questioning whether “Tokunbo” was meant to be a comedy or a drama.

The film touches on serious topics meant to evoke emotion, but its climax reduces everything to humor, diminishing the impact of the themes. While “Tokunbo” proves to be entertaining, it doesn’t rise above a 5/10 rating. The humor, cinematography, and strong performances save it from being a complete caricature of The Transporter, though ironically, that’s what it largely is.