King of Boys

Everything about the movie was well thought out, consisting of an Amazing cast who nailed their roles, an original story and top notch videography

I had to open an account just to review this movie. The acting in this was of the hook. There is some serious talent shown. It was beautiful to look at too. I however was disappointed by the story line. By the end of the movie I didn't feel the title "King of boys" was justified. The running time was also too long. That said, I love the cast and cinematography...the costumes and music.....the blend of languages and realistic depiction of our country (Nigeria). This is a beautiful work of art.

I give this a 9 for a Nigerian movie, and a 4 for an International movie. This is in some ways a compliment as one often doesn't bother to even rank a local movie using an international eye, and one doesn't bother to spend time to write a review. A great attempt by Kemi Adetiba as this movie raises the bar for other Nigerian filmmakers to do better than the typical ancestral curse movies or the numerous bland movies lacking a plot that you switch the TV to just to create background white noise when working on your computer. To be more specific, I liked:

• The acting especially that of Makanaki (Reminisce) and Eniola Salami (Sola Sobowale),
• The localized take on the Godfather
• The depiction of the relatable corruption prevalent in Nigeria
• The subtle infusion of humour in Odogwu Malis (IllBliss) character
• Some of the character dialogues (e.g. scenes with Eniola and Aare Akinwande, scene with )

I didn't like:

• Poor editing. Several scenes were either overly long and seemed to be dragging e.g. some of the policeman's scenes, the Makanaki/Eniola religious prayer scenes etc, or not even required at all e.g. the Music performance near the start of the movie
• The long running time (especially as it could easily have been avoided in this instance)
• Unnecessary wailing and screaming by some of the characters (especially Eniola Badmus, that is her acting trademark, but the director should have caught that as it was out of character for her role)
• The product placements were too obvious especially for Brabus
• Some of the Godfather comparisons were getting obvious (still liked that though)
• The particular scene where a particular character was shot, and we the audience was misdirected, could have been better directed. The camera angles and actors' body postures gave it away.
• The practical/special effects in the prison scene can be improved upon, there was no fire in the prison, minimal smoke, etc.

All in, it was a great movie for a Nigerian movie and can be improved upon

Not surprise that it is Kemi Adetiba on this one but everything about the film is the best of its kind so far in Nollywood. Of course there enough room for improvement. Cinematography was top notch but most impressive is the interpretation of the story.

On a Nollywood scale I'll give this movie an 9 because of it's unique storyline and excellent production which sets it aside from other Nigerian movies but just like other Nigerian movies it was excessively long and had extras who didn't know their roles, some part of the movie was unrealistic eg. the fire on the cell part but that's not the issue, the issue is this; as i was watching the movie I couldn't help but feel nostalgic, after a few minutes of brainstorming I remembered where i had seen the movie before if you can't remember I'll remind you, it's Al Pacino meets Francis Ford, yes The Godfather II to be precise. My original rating was an 8 but because of it's lack of originality i give it a 4 on a world scale and 9 on Nollywood scale. If other Nigerian directors can learn from this and just remake Hollywood classics the Nigerian cinema would be a better place.