Movie Review – Who Killed Captain Alex?

Who Killed Captain Alex? (2010)
Written and directed by Nabwana I.G.G.

I’ve mentioned several times in this series on foreign films how much American media is saturated with other cultures. This is intentional as it helps spread US hegemony across the globe by portraying the country as the toughest, most heroic culture on Earth. In the 1980s, this was done through the macho action films of people like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. More recently, Marvel movies have been America’s tool of global indoctrination.

A common trope in these movies is that non-Americans are often presented as the bad guys. It was more explicit forty years ago, but it is still in movies to a more subtle degree. When have you last seen a Russian character in an American action movie that wasn’t portrayed as the baddie? I’m sure it exists, but it is the exception, not the norm. 

One result of US media saturation is that people have become fans of this movie style and have decided to make their own. Nabwana I.G.G. is a Ugandan filmmaker who loves action movies. He founded his company, Wakaliwood, where he makes super low-budget movies, often with obvious green screens and digital blood effects. Nabwana was born in Uganda during Idi Amin’s regime and claims that he and his brother were chased by an attack helicopter during the Uganda Bush War, which occurred throughout most of the 1980s. 

Nabwana has the unique distinction of never really going to a movie theater as a child. He relied on his brother and other friends who had seen American action movies to describe them in great detail. His development as a filmmaker has been a process of trial and error; he is a true DIYer. In this way, Nabwana harkens back to the origin of cinema, where the form was more nebulous, and rules were invented as they went. In 2010, the director uploaded a trailer for Who Killed Captain Alex? where his film went viral, drawing in audiences far beyond his native Uganda. 

Watching Who Killed Captain Alex? is a strange, funny experience. Nabwana claims he deleted the film’s original cut off his laptop to make room for his next project, which is another testament to how he’s making his films with whatever he can get his hands on. The only version of Captain Alex that survives is the Video Joker cut. This began as a theatrical tradition where Ugandas would go to the theater and experience live translation of the movie, typically American. The Joker would add commentary along with the translation, cracking jokes about the film. It feels reminiscent of Mystery Science Theater 3000 but isn’t exactly the same. 

Clocking in at only 68 minutes, Captain Alex is a fast-paced film less concerned about character development than shootouts. Captain Alex is one of the most decorated soldiers in all of Uganda. He and his team are sent to take down the Tiger Mafia, a criminal enterprise making money off of drugs in Kampala. Alex sets up camp in the jungle, where he puts his men through drills; they get into a very comical bar fight soon after during R & R. Eventually, as the title lets us know, Captain Alex is killed by Richard, the crazed leader of the Tiger Mafia. Alex’s brother, a Shaolin monk whom the Video Joker comically dubs Bruce U, shows up to avenge his brother, and things descend into chaos.

The film’s budget is $200, and it is a genuine work of love. So many cynically made movies come out of the United States. Finance bros have taken over Hollywood. Business people have always been a part of the industry, but there was a long period when the money men at least loved movies. The current bosses see IPs that can be leveraged for licensing rights and made into bloated digital effects-laden duds. There’s no love in Netflix’s The Electric State, it’s cynically lazy. On the other hand, Captain Alex is overflowing with excitement about making a movie.

There’s not much more to say about this one other than watch it. It’s just a little over an hour long. You can find it on Tubi, where it can be streamed for free. In a cinematic landscape overflowing with soulless garbage, this film took me back to running around my backyard, playing soldiers. This is a film made by someone who genuinely loves movies.