Stubborn Prince
Browny Igboegwu, Majid Michel, Mandy Eze, Ofili Ugbo
-Story: [0 out of 5] I’ll need a little bit of help finding the story
-Originality: [0 out of 5] This movie makes every other wayward child movie seem like the Titanic
-Predictability: [3 out of 5] I don’t understand it, so I find it unfair to deduct predictability points
-Directing/Editing: [0 out of 5] In case you can’t see it, right on top of the word “stubborn” on the movie poster, it says “What was I thinking?” And I could have not said it better myself: What was the director thinking? What was the story writer thinking? What were the actors thinking taking up this role? Some scenes were just, for lack of a better word, stupid. I mean, first of all the spy in the union house wants to deliver message back to the headquarters and decides that he is going to squat under a desk like some three year old. Oh boy! You no see restroom to hide inside or to even sef commot for a while. In fact closet sef go dey excusable, which kind nonsense under table you want come hide. Another scene I coudn’t wrap my head around was the scene where the okada is following Mandy around and around and when she finally confronted him (which in itself is stupid cos if person dey follow me, I go drive enter police station. Get the fella picked up and locked up) all he did was warn her. Warn Her!!! Oh boy, so you wasted all that gas money just to warn her. Kolomental. And finally, why does the poster have a picture from the movie royal madness thereby causing unnecessary confusion in my head. Mscheww!!! I have a lot of grievances oh! But I am trying to reduce the length of my posts.
–Acting quality: [1 out of 5] I honestly typed in zero for acting but I did not feel like insulting Majid so I let it be at 1 (it is a good alternative cos I was honestly considering putting 0.5). First of all the supposed, Stephanie girl could not act for S.H.I.T (save her innocent tail). Stephanie nobody-knows-her-real-name-cos-the-editor-didnt-think-she-was-important-enough is sited at the top right hand corner of the movie’s poster.
-Setting and Costume: [0 out of 5] The setting was ridiculous nonsense. The palace was unbelievably horrid on the inside. The king-pins house looked exquisite on the outside and like excreta on the inside. I mean nollywood get real, if his house is massive on the outside, how am I supposed to believe that his main living room is just a 15ft by 15 square. Wetin una use the rest of the mansion space do? Somebody tell me why Browny was wearing pajamas all through the movie?
-Video and Audio Quality [0 out of 5] The lighting in this movie was crap
-Soundtrack [0 out of 5] Terrible
Espeakilekwe Maka Confuse Ga Aduma Kwa!!! Meet Nkoli Nwa Nsukka
Angelina
Well I think I’d forgive Majid cuz it was one of his earliest forays into acting in Nigeria. If you look at the roles he was offered to play at that time (2007-2009), none of the directors utilized his talents well. They all turned him into a piss-poor version of the stereotypical half-crazed gangster crashing saloons in old Westerns.
The directors seemed to want him to strike cliched poses found in Hollywood b-movies: from DreamMaker & sequel The Shepherd, to Royal Madness, the disastrous In Cold Blood (that movie with Chika Ike was a crime against humanity!!!), Friends in Love, Kiss of Venom with Nuella & Jim Iyke etc. Even the more textured roles in films like Emerald/Wild Passion, Deepest of Dreams, and Behind a smile, the directors still were too hung up on using his looks to carry the roles rather than stretch his repertoire of brilliant reflexes.
Majid is a Method actor and anything that underplays that asset results in stilted performances. He is terrible at middling or skating thru a performance and it shows. In spite of its technical deficiencies the director of Silent Scandals did an amazing job bringing out the finely tuned yet raw reflexes in Majid and it showed on screen, especially when all meaning was being via the body conveyed without dialogue. You yourself mentioned his gait as he walked away from the car after he had unleashed his fury on Genny’s character. that use of body & muscle tension to convey meaning needs a director who can calibrate the actor’s reactions optimally. you also remarked on his commanding performance in Somewhere in africa as both journalist & military dictator.
Well, I know this cuz I have studied his movie repertoire in depth, written & published on Majid as a Method actor.
Genny Nnaji too is another of those rare performers whose work is limited by the absence of directors who can stretch her talent beyond the safe range she’s been esconsed in thus far. Not even Ije, or Tango, Mirror Boy have scratched the surface of her skills. Maybe Dr. Bello would prove different when it comes out. Remains to be seen.
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NR Have a great weekend!
Zizi2
Alright… I see you’re head cheerleader of the Majid Michel camp… no problem though. You raise a valid argument
About Genevieve now that I think about it, I don’t think Dr. Bello will push her that far (at least not as far as Half of a Yellow Sun has the capacity to push her)… but we’ll just have to wait and see
Thanks and have an amazing weekend yourself Zizi
Funny you say that. I teach African filmmaking to grad students so I guess that makes me cheerleader for all African filmmaking. I found your site as I was trolling the web looking for sites on contemporary African film as additional resources in prep for my class this coming Fall. That’s all. cheers.
Nice! What university? I think that’s quite fascinating, courses like that are definitely rare
I’m really excited that you found my site and I hope you like it so far… more reviews definitely coming soon by God’s grace
And again, thanks for not only stopping by but leaving comments Zizi!!! 😀
Well I think I’d forgive Majid cuz it was one of his earliest forays into acting in Nigeria. If you look at the roles he was offered to play at that time (2007-2009), none of the directors utilized his talents well. They all turned him into a piss-poor version of the stereotypical half-crazed gangster crashing saloons in old Westerns.
The directors seemed to want him to strike cliched poses found in Hollywood b-movies: from DreamMaker & sequel The Shepherd, to Royal Madness, the disastrous In Cold Blood (that movie with Chika Ike was a crime against humanity!!!), Friends in Love, Kiss of Venom with Nuella & Jim Iyke etc. Even the more textured roles in films like Emerald/Wild Passion, Deepest of Dreams, and Behind a smile, the directors still were too hung up on using his looks to carry the roles rather than stretch his repertoire of brilliant reflexes.
Majid is a Method actor and anything that underplays that asset results in stilted performances. He is terrible at middling or skating thru a performance and it shows. In spite of its technical deficiencies the director of Silent Scandals did an amazing job bringing out the finely tuned yet raw reflexes in Majid and it showed on screen, especially when all meaning was being via the body conveyed without dialogue. You yourself mentioned his gait as he walked away from the car after he had unleashed his fury on Genny’s character. that use of body & muscle tension to convey meaning needs a director who can calibrate the actor’s reactions optimally. you also remarked on his commanding performance in Somewhere in africa as both journalist & military dictator.
Well, I know this cuz I have studied his movie repertoire in depth, written & published on Majid as a Method actor.
Genny Nnaji too is another of those rare performers whose work is limited by the absence of directors who can stretch her talent beyond the safe range she’s been esconsed in thus far. Not even Ije, or Tango, Mirror Boy have scratched the surface of her skills. Maybe Dr. Bello would prove different when it comes out. Remains to be seen.
_____
NR Have a great weekend!
Zizi2