King of Boys

So I finally watched King of Boys – a Nigerian movie written and directed by Kemi Adetiba – thanks again to Netflix. I’d heard and read so much about this movie – all good – so I started watching the movie ready to be the bad cop. Suffice to say that I have officially joined the bandwagon as I have been gushing about the movie since I saw it.

I was itching to write about the movie after watching it but I decided against that as I’d just posted one for the wedding party. I’m particular about giving good and diverse content to you guys so I didn’t want to repeat a movie post. I, however, felt obliged to send Ms Adetiba a message (no I don’t know her) as I felt I had to tell her she did a fantastic job. Please remember that I’m not a movie critic, I just enjoy blogging about things that interest me, and this may include movies from time to time.

Cast

King of Boys had an ensemble cast of some of the best role interpreters in Nigeria. There were some new ones though and what a revelation they were!

• Remilekun Safaru (Reminisce) – I had to start with him because – boy did he act! And to think he’s new to acting. I knew little of him before KOB, I had seen a program where the presenter visited his crib, that was the first time I ever heard of him and I remember thinking he was a likeable person. He was so convincing as Makanaki that I felt his death was too easy. He deserved a slow and extremely painful death for his crimes. Watch out Reminisce, some of us still want vengeance our way, 😁 Very impressive performance.
• Toni Tones- My oh My, Miss Tones didn’t come to play. Girl was totally into her character as the Young Eniola and totally blew me away. That was a great performance and now I’ll always look out for her in movies.
• Paul Sambo: I haven’t seen a lot of recent Nollywood Movies so this was my first time of seeing Mr Sambo. His portrayal of the incorruptible financial crime fighter Nurudern Gobir was impressive. He was clearly one of my revelations from this movie. Bravo Mr Sambo.
• Adesua Etomi-Wellington: I’m quite familiar with Adesua as I’ve seen a few of her movies. Who knew she had a Kemi Salami in her, did girl friend bring her ‘A’ game or what! I was expecting a Kemi takeover so I didn’t take her death well at all! It was a competition between Sola Sobowale and I on who could cry more …
• Akin Lewis, you really can’t find a better high chief, IllBliss, Demola Adedoyin, they all did so well and bringing my ‘friend’ Nedu to play the shady ‘Apostle’ was a good move.
• Sola Sobowale has always being a class act so it’s no surprise she delivered. She immerses herself in the role and lets the character takeover. I”ve been an avid Sola Sobowale follower since the days of ‘Diamond ring’ long before her Toyin Tomato days. She handled the play of emotions so well in the scene with Akin Lewis and the last scene when she confronted the boy in New York, her interpretation of the broken Eniola Salami was also fantastic. Aunty Sola can be a little extra but I think Kemi gave us Sola Sobowale at her best.

Conclusion

King of Boys was a very ambitious movie but Kemi Adeitiba did extremely well. She tackled societal issues like power play, corruption and godfatherism successfully. She even brought a bit of religious hypocrisy (Apostle) which is a major issue in Nigeria. Ms Adetiba showed a very good understanding of Nigerian politics.

Lest I Drag this too long, I’ll end by saying King of Boys was a very decent movie. Some scenes were dragged and some not necessary, but it was an extremely good watch. I actually couldn’t stop watching it, it was fear of police that stopped me from watching it while on the school run. On getting home, I rushed through homework and packaged the boys off to bed so I could continue the movie. Bravo to the cast and crew.

Aunty Lulu.