Scarlet Woman

I like that this movie has a theme, and that it sticks closely to this theme. However replace scarlet woman with orphan or osu or something else and the basic formula for these types of films is pretty easy. Prince comes from overseas, sees maiden/widow/orphan, and falls in love with said destitute person then defeats obstacles to get to her. This one followed that formula up to a point then deviated and added these extra details. Some were good, say the low self-esteem of the scarlet woman as well as her stupidity; some were bad, say involving a whole different plot. Its long and drawn out but is good for one viewing. A second viewing makes it boring…I should know.

The plot is overused but this takes a different spin on it. It’s somewhat predictable i.e. you know they are ending up together but the twists and turns are different and strangely enough the characters are different. The prince is somewhat less than princely and the maiden is somewhat less pitiful and helpless. A strong hint to the casting director is if you want to maintain some degree of secrecy on whom the villain is; don’t hire Patience Ozokwor. Towards the end it took a turn I personally did not like but it wasn’t bad per say.

There were some really long scenes, in my opinion a scene should only last ten minutes and should be prompt and efficient in displaying its aim. The soundtrack was mostly in Igbo and it melded well with the film.A great big plus is the prince actually using his skills as a doctor, something that is so rarely seen.

What exactly is the deal for dressing the  royal family like clown? And the maids were worse. Can’t we assume that they have taste? Please costumers, I beg, keep it classy ,not a lot of people are colour blind so respect the majority of us.The visuals were weird for the first twenty minutes or so but stick with it .

Okay, someone needs to tell Muna that he is not a young man anymore. He was really ill suited to the role because it called for a much younger person. Apart from that, he was back to good Muna (the heartthrob of the days of ‘White Angels’) and was very convincing in some parts. He started off with an accent but that soon faded away and thank God for that. Mary Remmy is one of those ‘bridesmaids’ previously mention in Nollywood, that is always a supporting character and never a lead and  has been in the industry for about five year or even longer. In this film she is given her own leading role and she owns the film. While she may not be a powerhouse like some, she communicates her emotions in more subtle ways .Hopefully she will have more chances to grow as a leading actress and work on her presence on screen. This was the first time I was introduced to Moyo Lawal and she certainly makes an impression. I liked her even though she had a cringe worthy accent and a really annoying part so kudos to her for making it likeable. Mama G is as always good, although the performance went a little crazy (intentional = good, not intentional=bad). I wish not to speak of Halima Abubakar and the other extra that had the most atrocious accent. Please Nollywood, stop forcing people to produce accents…people that go abroad don’t always have an accent at home.

In conclusion, watch only once for a great experience. It is not as easy to watch as others out there but it is interesting and very entertaining.