In her directorial debut, Nollywood veteran, Genevieve Nnanji plays Adaeze, a young lady who grew up in the bus park with her father, Ernest Obiagu (Pete Edochie) running the very successful Lionheart Transport company in the coal city of Enugu. Adaeze is part of the management team in Lionheart but when her father suffers a hear attack, her uncle (Nkem Owoh) is placed as the head of the company. Adaeze is determined to prove herself so when she finds out that the company is in debt and on the brink of getting into the hands of an old rival, she forms an unlikely duo with her uncle to try to save the company.
I consider Genevieve Nnaji a Nollywood legend and I'm so glad she returned to the big screen after her little break. With Lionheart, it was a blissful reunion for old nollywood with faces like Nkem Owoh, Pete Edochie, Onyeka Onwenu, Ngozi Ezeonu and Kanayo O. Kanayo. The acting from these legends and the other actors including Nnaji was solid. Did we really expect anything less from a movie starring this calibre of actors?? Onwenu and Ezeonu were beautiful to watch, Owoh didn't disappoint as the comic relief, I couldn't stop myself from getting goosebumps every time Edochie appeared on the screen and I fell in love with Nnaji over again with each scene.
Lionheart looked really beautiful visually. The production quality was superb and I loved how Nnaji's character looked effortlessly beautiful in all her outfits. Lionhearted gave me that old Nollywood film feeling with the simple plot. It's obvious that we still appreciate these actors because their Nollywood royalty, their acting and of course the beautiful cinematography is the only reason I like this film. Its a feel good movie with a very simple plot and a distinct look. The way they filmed Enugu and all the beautiful hills was breathtaking to look at. I loved the fact that most of the film is in the Igbo language but I left the movie theatre unhappy due to the fact that the cinema I saw Lionheart in somehow forgot to click 'subtitles' so a lot of the people in the hall didn't understand what was said in some of the scenes. I loved how they displayed the rich flavor of Nigeria's culture, music and food. If you pay enough attention, you'll catch a glimpse of the Innoson SUV's which are made in Nigeria.
Lionheart was a beautiful film but I really wish they did more work with the screenplay. It didn't have an intense climax and I wish we got a better villain. The writing felt too basic and needed a little more work. Lionheart has gotten a lot of international recognition especially with the Netflix deal but it's so sad how its been plagued with a lot of controversies. From the distribution fiasco with Film One and the lack of subtitles in some cinemas, It has not been a smooth journey for Nnaji. She's a Nollywood gem and her movie should be embraced and screened in theaters all over the country but it seems to be the other way round. She deserves more credit for her work. Lionheart is still showing in select cinemas all over Nigeria and it will premiere on Netflix this January.
DIRECTOR Genevieve Nnaji
WRITTER Genevieve Nnaji
STARRING Genevieve Nnaji, Nkew Owoh, Pete Edochie, Onyeka Onwenu, Kanayo O. Kanayo, Jemima Osunde
Get more updates by following my social media pages. Follow Dairy of A movie Lover on Twitter HERE and on Instagram HERE. Feel free to also subscribe to the blog. Thank you for reading.
Comments
Post a Comment