Skip to main content

Review- The Royal Hibiscus Hotel (2018)

Image via Imdb.com
   The Romantic Comedy follows Ope (Zainab Balogun), the daughter of Segun (Jide Kosoko) and Rose Adeniyi (Rachel Oniga) who own the prestigious Royal Hibiscus Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria. Ope returns home to Lagos after quitting her job as a chef in a restaurant in London and plans to transform the hotel with her exotic meals only to find out that her parents are selling the hotel to Deji (Kenneth Okolie), a business man who she falls in love with. Will love conquer all or will Ope give up on love and pursue her dream?  To be very honest, I went into the theater expecting The Royal Hibiscus Hotel to be like every regular Nollywood Romantic Comedy but I was pleasantly surprised by how almost flawless it was. They couldn’t have picked a better cast for this film. Zainab Balogun is a phenomenal actress and she played Ope with such class. Mr Nigeria himself, Kenneth Okolie did a great job with his role and I was in love with Rachel Oniga as Ope’s mom, Rose. Her chemistry with fellow Nollywood veteran Jide Kosoko was fantastic. It didn’t feel forced in any way. Although, I don’t think I loved Kemi “Lala” Akindoju’s “Chika”. She’s an amazing actress but for some reason I felt like she was doing too much in most of her scenes and they just seemed very unrealistic. 
Image via Imdb.com
    Another thing this film got right was the way it was filmed. The aerial shots were stunning and perfectly shot. I couldn’t get enough of the breathtaking views of The Lekki- Ikoyi Bridge, The Royal Hibiscus Hotel and Eko Hotel. It was beautiful. I loved the fact that the soundtrack was filled with amazing Nigerian songs. From Nonso Amadi’s “Tonight” to Mr Eazi’s “Skintight” and Johnny Drille’s “Romeo & Juliet”. I loved the fact that this film isn’t just plain comedy that ends up being annoying. It had a story line that flowed with the humor. The Royal Hibiscus Hotel is honestly one of the best Nollywood Romantic comedies I’ve seen in a really long time. It didn’t seem like they were just trying to milk the audience out of their coins by putting out “another comedy film”, they gave us a story and characters that we could somehow relate to. Ishaya Bako did a fantastic job directing this film. Do yourself a favor and see The Royal Hibiscus Hotel.


RATING 9/10
DIRECTOR Ishaya Bako
WRITER Ishaya Bako
CAST Zainab Balogun, Kenneth Okolie, Jide Kosoko, Rachel Oniga, Deyemi Okanlanwon
RELEASE DATE February 8, 2018


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Who Killed Julia Montague?"- Bodyguard Finale

BBC's Bodyguard has been one of the most satisfying series I've seen so far, this year. Over six episodes, they delivered a Limited Series that kept you on the edge of your seat and wondering what was next for Richard Madden's David Budd. David meets up with Julia's PA, Chanel, who was fired in the first episode because he was suspicious of her involvement in the bombings and he was right. She had a hand in it. Chanel set David up and he ended up getting ambushed and kidnapped by the leader of the criminal group, Luke Aitkens. The police are finally  able to piece the puzzle and they findd out that the ex-soldier who tried to shoot Julia was David's friend and this raises an alarm. They're convinced that Budd was indeed behind the bombing. Budd wakes up alone and realizes that he is strapped to a bomb vest with his thumb taped to the activating button. He is unaware that he is currently being investigated by the police and uses someone's phone to call for...
Post a Comment
Read more

Goodbye Mike & Rachel- Suits' Seventh Season Finale Review

  Suits is one of my favorite Legal Drama's and for some reason, I'm still very invested in the show after 7 seasons. I don't think they've had any bad season and they've done such a great job with the growth and development of the major characters but the time to say goodbye to Mike and Rachel was finally here. Due to the fact that Meghan Markle would be getting married to Prince Harry, I guess it was a good time to wrap up her love story with Mike and they do this with the fairy tale wedding we've all been waiting for. Mike and Rachel have been an item since the first season and have been engaged since the fifth. They would have been married a season ago but were not able to because of Mike's time in prison. I always loved their chemistry and I was so sad to see them say goodbye and more than anything, I loved Mike and Harvey's relationship. It was so genuine and pure. The two final episodes of the final season of Suits aired back to back and...
Post a Comment
Read more

SUITS: Season 6 finale

        The 6th season of suits has been quite an emotional one with Mike's would be wedding with Rachel, his going to Prison and Rachel's death row case. Death row cases can get really sad especially if the suspect is innocent which was the case of Leonard Bailey (Glenn Plummer) who was accused of murdering two people. After staying behind bars for 12 years, Leonard Bailey was finally exonerated with the help of Rachel and Jessica (Gina Torres). During this episode, a major character said goodbye to the show. Gina Torres decided to leave Suits to film another TV Show 'Catch' and it was quite emotional. This episode showed a different side of Jessica Pearson, she put her pro Bono case first before the firm and fought for the freedom of Leonard Bailey.          Gina Torres will no longer be a series regular and I was happy her character wasn't killed off like Will Gardner in the Good Wife, (I c...
1 comment
Read more