Film / Bad Black

SWAAAAAAAZZZZ!

Bad Black is a 2016 low-budget action film by Isaac Godfrey Geoffrey Nabwana (Nabwana I.G.G.), creator of the 2010 cult hit Who Killed Captain Alex?. The film primarily follows two storylines: the rise of the eponymous Bad Black (Kirabo Beatrice as a child, Nalwanga Gloria as an adult) from a street girl to a gang leader, and an American doctor named Ssali (Alan Ssali Hofmanis) who seeks revenge on her. The film opens with a man called "Swaaz"^note short for "Schwarzenegger" (Ssebankyaye Mohammed) and his child sidekick "Buddy Spencer" (Mugisha Henry) robbing a bank, desperately in search of medical funds to save Swaaz's dying wife. The police arrive, and a car chase through the streets of Kampala commences. Spencer takes the money and jumps out of the car, while Swaaz continues to draw the police's attention. Swaaz crashes into a sports car in a street race, gets in a shootout with the police, and is killed when his car explodes.

The movie then jumps ahead an undefined number of years, and shows a man from the ghetto (Ssenkungu Swaibu) getting harassed by wealthy people from uptown for socializing with a woman from "across the bridge." The ghetto man retreats back to his home neighborhood, where his friends back him up in a fight. Although the uptown men flee, his mother's fruit stand is destroyed in the fight. The man says it isn't sustainable or healthy for his mother (Namatovu Annet) to keep raising Bad Black, an orphan girl she took in; Black hears the argument from the other room and realizes she isn't wanted, so she runs away from home. After being rescued from some street thugs, she's brought into a gang led by a "commando". While scrounging for scrap, she's harassed and threatened by a wealthy man named Hirigi (Bisaso Dauda), and is later accused by her boss of stealing from her. After witnessing the gang leader kill another child, she steals his gun while he sleeps and kills him.

The movie jumps ahead again by ten years, showing the arrival of the "muzungu" (white) doctor named Ssali, and his child assistant Wesley Snipes (Kasule Rolean). Wesley notices that Ssali has a commando's dog tags, and Ssali explains that they were actually his father's. Black, having since become leader of the gang, decides to steal from Ssali after seeing his dog tags and mistaking him for a commando. Meanwhile, she also plots to seduce and defraud Hirigi in revenge. Hirigi is later shown kicking his son Kenny (Kazibwe Ronald) out for impregnating a woman from the ghetto.

When Ssali finds that his possessions (especially his dog tags) were stolen by Black, Wesley says he has to become a commando and take them back by force. After training under Wesley, Ssali launches a disastrously unsuccessful attack on Black's hideout, but he resolves to try again. Meanwhile, Kenny approaches the hideout in search of drugs, and eventually falls in with the gang. Black continues to seduce Hirigi, promising him that she would be a better wife and would provide a better-behaved son, and convinces Hirigi to give her access to his bank account. She takes him to meet her foster grandmother, who is outraged at Hirigi. She reveals that Black is actually Hirigi's granddaughter; her mother is Hirigi's long-dead daughter Flavia, who he forced out of his house years prior for marrying a poor man. When he returns to his house with a police officer (who is Black's foster "uncle"), Black shoots her uncle dead, prompting Hirigi to run away in terror.

Black is conducting a gun deal in her hideout, but it's right as both the police and Ssali attack at the same time. Ssali captures her first, then turns her over to the police once he's recovered his dog tags. In prison, she's intimidated by the prison gang leader Supazilla, but eventually befriends her. Black also befriends a woman (Nabatanzi Hawah) who was arrested just after giving birth, who hopes to one day meet her daughter after she's released. That night, Black's gang give Kenny a bunch of guns and turn him loose on the prison, where he claims to be the real Black. He releases all the prisoners, but Black convinces the other woman to stay: she only has two days left in her sentence, and getting recaptured during the escape means she may never see her daughter again. Black is caught offscreen, and Kenny is subdued and captured alive.

The film jumps ahead to two days later, as the woman is being released from prison. She immediately goes to a courtroom, where Black is facing civil charges brought against her by Hirigi (the criminal charges were dropped and placed on Kenny). She explains her past in a series of flashbacks, which reveal that Swaaz was her father, and that he robbed the bank to save Flavia (Nakatudde Madinah), who was dying in childbirth. Buddy Spencer delivered the heist money to the hospital in time and saved Flavia's life, but she was immediately arrested due to her connection to Swaaz. The baby Black was then given to her foster grandmother to raise. The woman released from prison stands up, reveals she is Flavia, and runs forward to embrace her daughter. The judge is satisfied with the explanation, dismisses the charges, and adjourns the court.

Bad Black was shot in Uganda's Wakaliga slum (nicknamed "Wakaliwood") of the capital Kampala by Nabwana's film studio, Ramon Film Productions. Much like Who Killed Captain Alex?, the film is overdubbed with translation, narration, and color commentary by VJ ("Video Joker") Emmie. Despite being released in Uganda in 2016, Bad Black did not see a worldwide release until June of 2019, when it was made part of a Blu-Ray double-feature with Captain Alex.

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He can trope the untropables!

• Action Girl: Black, being a violent female crime boss, and Supazilla, the toughest woman in the prison, both qualify.
• All Abusers Are Male:
  • Black's foster uncle is the one who wanted her out of the house.
  • A boy in the commando's gang said he ran away from home because he was afraid his step-father would beat him.
  • Hirigi beats his wife and also his son, and has kicked both his children out of his house for marrying below their social status.
• America Saves the Day: Ssali, the only American in the film, is the one who captures Black and hands her over to the police.
  Ssali: Don't fuck with Americans.
• Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!: When Ssali first tries to infiltrate Black's hideout and gets in a fight, he's thoroughly trounced and runs back to Wesley.
  VJ Emmie: He's winning! ...he's losing.
• Badass Adorable: Wesley Snipes, who teaches the far older Ssali how to be a commando.
• Badass and Child Duo: Swaaz and Buddy Spencer qualify as this in the opening scene.
• Badass Family: Everyone in Ssali's family—his father, mother, brother, and even his dog—are all commandos except for him.
• Badass Longcoat: One of the uncle's friends (who later fights Ssali when he first tries to attack Black's hideout) is wearing what seems to be a white medical lab coat. He certainly rocks the style, though.
• Berserk Button: Thanks to the previous gang leader, a Commando who murdered her friend in front of her, Black has a very strong hatred of Commandos (which is the reason she targets Ssali in the first place).
• Big Damn Reunion: Flavia and Black have a heartfelt reunion in the courtroom after Flavia learns that Black is her daughter.
• Bitch Slap: Flavia delivers one to Hirigi when he tries to talk to her as she walks through the courtroom.
• Biting-the-Hand Humor: VJ Emmie cheerfully pokes fun at Doctor Ssali and his actor Alan Hofmanis a few times, despite the latter also being a co-producer on the film.
  "Here in Uganda, because his wife kicked him!"^note The real Hofmanis was dumped by his girlfriend right before he discovered Wakaliwood.
  "Forget your wife in America. She hates you!"
  "Oooooh, Ssali's mad. You'll be mad, too, if you can only act in Uganda."
• Black Comedy Cannibalism: Skin color puns aside, VJ Emmie adds this when Wesley Snipes and his friends chase Ssali:
  "Eat the muzungu! He must be delicious!"
• Brats with Slingshots: Wesley Snipes and his friends attack Ssali with slingshots while telling him to dodge as part of his commando training.
• Brawn Hilda: Supazilla is one of these, as she is shown to take down prison guards in a single punch.
• The Bully: Supazilla seems to occupy this role in the prison's hierarchy, being pampered by other prisoners, and demanding money from Black the moment she arrives.
• Captain Obvious: VJ Emmie frequently announces the title of the movie, its producers, and that it's by the same people behind Who Killed Captain Alex?.
• Character Shilling: Played for Laughs. During Ssali's introduction scene, VJ Emmie insists that his actor is "America's Van Damme".
• Cool Car: The white 2004 Subaru Impreza "Blobeye" WRX (GDB) being driven in the street race is certainly a fine piece of machinery, especially by Wakaliwood standards. Too bad it gets totaled by Swaaz.
  "Subaru! Subaru! Subaru! Subaru! Vroom Vroom vrooom vrooom yeah!"
  • In a lesser and downplayed extent, the 1991 Mitsubishi Pajero (V20) and 2000 Land-Rover Range Rover Series II (P38A) are also featured in the film.
• Comically Small Demand: During the prison shootout, Kenny starts yelling demands to the police, one of which is that they put 24 back on the air.
  "Best damn show on TV!"
• Community-Threatening Construction: Hirigi plans to buy the land the slums are on, evict everyone, and bulldoze the homes.
• Cycle of Revenge: In The Stinger, Hirigi's wife tries to get her revenge on Black for getting revenge on her husband, which will inevitably lead to Black getting revenge on her in the future.
• Darker and Edgier: Surprisingly enough, when compared to Who Killed Captain Alex?. While both films have the low-budget and VJ Emmie's charm, Captain Alex has their antagonists being mostly Laughably Evil, not to mention how over-the-top some of them can be. Bad Black on the other hand, focuses on a girl's rise from orphan to a crime lord, and while VJ Emmie still delivers comedy, it's usually (no pun intended) Black Comedy.
• Dead Man Walking: VJ Emmie has low hopes for Ssali's future after Black starts plotting against him.
  "Hello!" "Hello dead muzungu!"
• Decoy Protagonist: It seems like Swaaz will be the hero of the story, but he dies at the end of the first scene and is not mentioned again until the end.
• Design-It-Yourself Equipment:
  • Much like Captain Alex, many of the film's prop weapons, as well as much of the filming equipment, was improvised or made from scrap metal.
  • In-Universe example where Wesley Snipes gives Ssali a fake gun made out of sticks during his training session.
• The Drag-Along: VJ Emmie suggests that Buddy Spencer is this to Swaaz:
  "This is a bad idea! I wanna go back to school! I want to be a doctor! Or a lawyer, I don't care!"
• Drugs Are Bad: Subverted. One of Black's gang members tries to talk Kenny out of buying drugs... until he finds out that Kenny has plenty of money he's willing to spend.
• Easily Forgiven: In The Stinger it is revealed that Black works as Ssali's assistant/nurse, despite all the previous hostility between them.
• Eat That: In order to help Ssali become a commando, Wesley Snipes throws away Ssali's canned dinner and makes him eat an ''interesting'' local meal called "kikommando."
• Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting: Nearly every fight scene involving hand-to-hand combat features extensive use of martial arts.
• Evil Matriarch: Hirigi's wife was like this at one point, having cast Flavia out of her house for wanting to marry a poor man. Though it seems she's since mellowed out by the time of the film, being very accepting of Kenny's poor fiance.
• Evil Uncle: Zig-zagged. Black's foster uncle wants her out of the house because she's too much of a financial burden, and taking care of her is proving too hard on his mother's health. However, when he later appears, he seems to genuinely resent her and would not hesitate to kill her.
• The Fagin: The "Commando" who initially leads Black's street gang is one, recruiting entirely from poor children and forcing them to steal to stay under his "protection."
• Fantastic Drug: Kenny is given a drug called "jet fuel."
  "You ever wanted to fly? Well you're gonna be the first Ugandan on the moon!"
• Fast-Forward Gag: VJ Emmie doesn't want to hear the boring parts of Black's court testimony, so he fast forwards until the flashback scenes start.
• Flowery Insults:
  • Hirigi calls Kenny's fiance a "roach turd" and refers to her as an "it."
  • Black's foster grandmother calls Hirigi a "retarded goat" for trying to (unknowingly) marry his granddaughter.
• Freudian Excuse: Bad Black's reason becoming Uganda's most notorious crime lord is explained in the beginning. Its then all explained by her at the end in the court.
• Funetik Aksent: The movie's poster and subtitles spell "Super" as "Supa".
• Funny Background Event: After Ssali spin-kicks a cabbage as part of his training, a cow is seen eating the remnants on the ground.
• Gratuitous English: Aside from scenes with the American actor Alan Hofmanis, all the movie's dialogue is spoken in Luganda... except for the one scene with "Commando" gang leader who randomly mixes in Luganda with English dialogue.
• Groin Attack: Kenny is immobilized by one of these during the prison shootout, eventually leading to his capture.
• Hate Sink: Hirigi is an unrepentant Rich Bastard and a Domestic Abuser who disowned both of his kids for marrying below their social status. VJ Emmie even outright calls him an asshole.
• Heel–Face Turn: A end credit scene shows that Bad Black is now Ssali's nurse 3 months later, unfortunately Ssali gets killed by Hirigi's wife.
  • Despite hitting and shaking down Black when she first arrives in prison, Supazilla later befriends Black when she realizes just who she is.
• Heroic Lineage: Wesley tells Ssali that he can be a commando because it's in his blood, even though that's not exactly an inheritable trait.
• Hidden Badass: Ssali is a kind, mild-tempered doctor who happily helps the kids, a black sheep in the family of Commandos (and a Commando dog to boot). Despite his initial clumsiness, he Takes a Level in Badass when fighting his way to Black with a single MG.
  • Kenny, despite his unassuming appearence, manages to single-handedly fight off the guards in the prison while high on weed.
• Hit Flash: When Swaaz shoots two police officers from the back of a speeding motorcycle, VJ Emmie yells SWAAAAAAAZZZZ! and the text takes up the entire screen.
• I Have No Son!: Hirigi does this to Kenny after he becomes engaged to a poor girl, and almost immediately proposes to Black in hopes that she will give him a better-behaved son.
• Informed Attribute: VJ Emmie is the only one who refers to many of the characters by name (Swaaz, Buddy Spencer, Wesley Snipes, Supazilla), as well as telling the audience that Swaaz is robbing the bank to save his ill wife.
• "It" Is Dehumanizing: Hirigi calls Kenny's ghetto fiance "it", to show how lowly he regards the poor.
• Just Like Robin Hood: Black gives the money she stole from Hirigi away to the poor, leading to many of them refusing to help the police find her.
• Kid Sidekick: Buddy Spencer is Swaaz's young accomplice in the bank robbery.
• Klingon Promotion: Black becomes leader of the street gang after killing the former leader.
• Kung-Shui: Black's mother's fruit stand is destroyed when her son and his friends fight some men from uptown.
• Language Barrier: During his introductory scene, Ssali doesn't understand what his child patient's name is, so he just calls her "Betty."
• Large and in Charge: Supazilla is the rather hefty leader of the prison gang.
• Lemony Narrator: As is common among other VJs in Ugandan cinema, Emmie's commentary is an eclectic mix of narration, translation, humor, and sometimes random words.
• Luke, You Are My Father: Hirigi is surprised and horrified to learn that Black is really his granddaughter, though it seems she already knew.
• Mail-Order Bride: One of Black's henchmen accuses Ssali of coming to Uganda in search of a wife.
• Masquerading As the Unseen: During his prison attack, Kenny claims to be the real Black, and later takes the fall for her crimes.
  "Bad Black is in the house!"
• Mildly Military: Much of the Ugandan police forces' uniforms, equipment, vehicles, and bases are ramshackle and seem rather low-quality, though that is mostly due to budgetary limitations. invoked
• Mistaken for an Imposter: Supazilla notices Black's fancy outfit and mockingly asks her if she thinks she's Bad Black or something.
• More Dakka:
  • Ssali grabs a machine gun and fights his way through Black's hideout.
  • Kenny is armed to the teeth when he breaks into the prison.
• My Country Tis of Thee That I Sting: VJ Emmie occasionally cracks jokes about robberies, illness, and open sewage in Uganda.
• Mythology Gag:
  • VJ Emmie not only reuses his famous line "Expect the unexpectable!" from Who Killed Captain Alex?, but also adds variations like "He can fit the unfittables!" when Swaaz squeezes through a narrow gap.
  • That guy who gets killed in the opening scene? That's Captain Alex.
• Named After Somebody Famous: Wesley Snipes, Swaaz and Buddy Spencer.
• Noodle Incident: During Ssali's rampage, one of the villagers yells that "another muzungu has gone crazy!"
• Off-the-Shelf FX: The film has some very obvious low-budget SFX, like stock sounds for gunshots. But some were used in inventive ways, like using stop-motion models and green screens to simulate a car crash.
• One-Man Army:
  • Swaaz kills dozens of Ugandan police during his shootout, even as he's making a dramatic Last Stand on top of a burning car.
  • Ssali is able to fight his way through Black's gang hideout armed with a single stolen machine gun.
  • Kenny is able to hold off the Ugandan military in their own prison long enough for the prisoners to escape.
• Only Mostly Dead:
  • VJ Emmie is surprised to find that an old man in a chair at the clinic wasn't actually dead, just sleeping.
  • Everyone at the hospital assumed that Flavia was dead (or as good as dead) until she revived.
• Pink Elephants: Kenny sees two of Black while high.
• Police Are Useless: Ssali tried to go to the police after Black stole his dog tags, to no avail. Wesley Snipes tells him that the police are useless and that he needs to become a commando to bring about justice. Eventually subverted when the cops carry out a raid on Black's base.
• The Queenpin: Bad Black, as the leader of the Ghetto gang.
• Quick Draw: Black draws the pistols of the two gang members standing by her side and shoots her uncle.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: Black and Supazilla are not only the leaders of their own gangs, but also the toughest members.
• Rich Jerk: Hirigi. His Establishing Character Moment has him harass and beat Black for trying to steal his car parts. Later, he intents on disposing of the Ghetto by buying their land and evicting the impoverished residents and also disowns his son Kenny for wanting to marry a woman below his social position, beating both his son and his wife in a fit of anger. Finally, it is revealed that Hirigi has thrown his daughter out as well, for the same reason as with Kenny, ruining her and her husband's life in the process. Ruthless, greedy, indifferent and abusive to his own family (VJ Emmie even calls him an asshole for that), contemptuous of the poor, Hirigi fits the trope to the T.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge:
  • Ssali does one of these to Black's hideout in a quest to get back his dog tags.
  • The prison guards are afraid that Supazilla will do one of these to Kampala if she escapes.
• The Runaway: Black runs away from home because her foster uncle wants to throw her out.
• Sarcasm-Blind: When Black notices that Ssali has a commando's dog tags and asks if he's one, he sarcastically replies "What do you think?" She takes it to be a "yes."
• Satisfied Street Rat: One of the children in the gang left home because he wanted to join a street gang.
  "This is the life I chose, man. No regrets."
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Hirigi does this after Black shoots the police he brought to get his house back.
• Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll: Kenny assumes that he can buy drugs at Black's hideout because he hears musicians practicing there.
• Shoot the Fuel Tank: Swaaz is killed when the car he's standing on is shot so many times it explodes.
• Slain in Their Sleep: Kenny does this to a dozing guard outside of the prison.
  VJ Emmie: "You go to sleep? Okay, I put to sleep."
• Spoiled Sweet: Kenny and Flovia, the kids of Hirigi. Their Jerkass father disowned them both for wanting to marry someone below their social status.
• Soft Glass: Zig-zagged. The glass at the bank teller's window is immune to gunfire, but is broken by a single hit from a hammer.
• Stealing from the Till: As a child, Black is accused of stealing from her bosses.
• The Stinger: Three months later, Black has turned her life around and is working as a nurse in Ssali's clinic. Hirigi's wife shows up and tries to shoot Black for ruining her husband's life. She misses Black... but hits and kills Ssali.
• The Stoner: The gun dealer's minions are this, which VJ Emmie seems to disapprove of:
  "Excess use of ganja."
• Street Urchin: Black grows up like this after running away from home.
• Suicide Mission: The members of Black's gang consider any attempt to rescue Black from prison to be this, so they send an oblivious, armed-to-the-teeth, and very high Kenny to do it.
  "You're about to meet Commando Jesus!"
• Surprise Incest: When VJ Emmie finds out that Black is Hirigi's granddaughter, he is disgusted by the possibility that they had sex.
  "Did they beat the rat? I think I'm gonna be sick!"
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • Swaaz is sure badass enough to fight off multiple cops by himself, but that doesn't stop him from eventually getting killed in the mayhem.
  • Ssali's first venture into Black's turf ends with him getting battered and almost killed, as he, who was only a bit trained and had no prior combat experience, gets quickly overwhelmed by the ruthless and skilled gangsters.
  • Kenny's drug-fueled rampage across the prison only works because the guards were taken by surprise at night. As soon as they wise up and start making a plan, he's subdued pretty quickly. In fact, him being the son of the rich Hirigi is the only reason why prison guards even bother taking him alive.
• Token Evil Teammate: The Commandos are all shown to be the heroic fighters, except for the beggars ringleader who is shown to be a Commando (with proper dog tags to boot) and is also an extremely violent gangster who murders a child in front of everyone because Black presumably stole money from him.
• Training Montage: Wesley Snipes subjects Ssali to this in order to get him in shape and make him a Commando.
• Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny: Before Black shows up to the gun deal, several of the dealer's minions are debating whether Sylvester Stallone could kill the Predator.
  "Predator is half-Jamaican, you know."
• Uptown Girl: Both played straight and gender-inverted.
  • Kenny not only loved a woman from the ghetto, but also impregnated her and got engaged.
  • Flavia loved Swaaz, despite him being from the ghetto, and even left her home so she could stay with him.
  • Black's foster uncle gets harassed by uptown men for flirting with a wealthy woman.
• Villain Protagonist: Bad Black is the eponymous main character and a ruthless crime lord of the Ghetto.
• White Male Lead: Ssali is the only white character in the film, and his role is almost as important as Black's.
• Younger Mentor, Older Disciple: Wesley Snipes, despite clearly being under ten years old, is the one who ends up teaching Ssali how to be a commando.
  Wesley: "It took me years to get this tough!"
• You Wouldn't Shoot Me: The "Commando" gang leader tries to pull this on child Black, saying she can't kill him because he's a Commando. She proves him dead wrong.