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

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

"Don't Tell Mama"- The Shocking Sharp Objects Season Finale

   Sharp Objects easily tops the list of my all time favorite TV Series. The HBO Limited Series aired it eight and final episode last night and it's something I'll probably never forget. I'm trying so hard to find the right words to describe this amazing show and the phenomenal acting from Amy Adams, Patricia Clarkson and Eliza Scanlen. They were just too perfect. Throughout the season, we've all been trying to figure out who the killer was in this whodunnit and I had so many theories. I never believed it was John Keene because most times, it's always the person you least expect that'll end up being the perpetrator. My first suspect was Alan (Henry Czerny), Adora's husband and Amma's father. I thought the only reason he would venture out to killing teenage girls was due to the fact that he was no longer as had a bond with his daughter and his loveless marriage but I was so wrong. Then I thought it was the Police Chief, Bill who was in cahoots with Ado...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chicago Justice: Series Premiere/Crossover Episode-"Fake"

Image via imdb.com I looked forward to seeing Chicago Justice after it was announced because I love the One Chicago universe even though I'm yet to see the other shows, i'm very familiar with their stories and characters. I'm a crazy fan of Chicago PD so I'm going to binge watch all the episodes of Chicago Fire, but I don't think I'll be able to see Chicago Med. Medical shows are too emotional for me. With Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, I don't know where to start from, but I'll binge watch from season one to eighteen whenever I can for sure.  The four part crossover started with an episode on Chicago Fire and concluded in the season premiere of Chicago Justice. There is a fire at a warehouse and the Chicago Fire crew think it's an accident but Severide (Taylor Kinney) finds metal wedges shoved under the door which means whoever started the fire wanted everyone trapped inside, so its arson. Image via nbc.com The warehouse was a spot...
Post a Comment
Read more