Series Review: King of Boys 2 (The Return of the King)

Nevertheless, we know is that this sequel is a win for Nollywood. And when someone asks you if anything good has ever come out from Nollywood, beat your chest and point to this masterpiece!

Omo!

That has been my exclamation since the end credits of the last episode rolled in! I am still yet to get over the awesomeness of this limited series! If you saw King of Boys Part 1 and loved it, this blockbuster will amaze you further! I know that it was released a long time ago, but I went to see it all over again, and I’m still in awe!

What is not to like about this movie? Is it the perfect cinematography? The crisp editing? The musical score? The lovely costumes? Or the perfect directing? Or even the storyline itself? Produced and directed by the ‘Juggernaut’ of Nollywod herself, Kemi Adetiba, this movie has surpassed all.

Set against a political backdrop of the Lagos State gubernatorial elections, King of Boys 2 is the story of Alhaja Eniola Salami, who comes back from exile five years after the events of Part 1 to mourn her children properly. Wracked with guilt for not protecting her children enough and letting them die for her own agenda, she decides to run for political office and avenge her children’s deaths.

But things are different now.

A political rival is out to destroy what’s left of Alhaja Eniola Salami’s reputation to secure her own husband’s future. She does this in collaboration with a relentless journalist who thinks he is working for the greater good, while in fact, he is trying to advance in his career and associate with the rich and powerful.

And that is not all. There is a bigger threat in the person of Odudubariba, a new King of Boys has emerged, and he is doing everything in his power to steal Eniola Salami’s crown from right under her. At the end of this movie, the last scenes will shock you to your very marrow! But I won’t drop any spoiler here, please, but stick around for two extra epilogues.

The plot is fire! So many twists and turns! And there are more stories to be unraveled.

Now let us talk about the styling… I mean, every outfit Alhaja wore in this series was a hit, back to back! There was not a weak point in all her dressing! She served us hot looks all through! There were no misses at all. Check out the dresses worn by Jumoke Randle too. These fierce women outdid themselves. These costumiers should get ready because they will definitely win a lot of awards. And I want Alhaja’s entire wardrobe! I want to unlock my inner rich aunty vibes.

And the cast? Oh my God! Sola Shobowale was born for that role!

Mama carried the role on her head like Jheri curls, and she carried it well! If she was smoking hot in part 1, she is on fire in this one! She absolutely killed the role, and it was good in our eyes. Toni Tones, as her alter ego, was also exceptional. It was almost like I saw a younger version of Sola Shobowale. They did a scene together in the last episode that gave me goosebumps. You will know that scene when you see it.

The cast from the first part did well too. There is Akin Lewis as Aare Akinwande, Ill Bliss as Odogwu Malay, Osas Ighodalo as Sade Bello of KAV Tv, Titi Kuti as the exceptionally sexy Ade Tiger whose loyalty should be studied in schools, Paul Sambo as Nurudeen Gobir, the elders on the table, and of course, Reminisce came back as Makanaki!

What were you expecting?

And in addition to this, like every good sequel, there were new faces introduced to the series. Although they were not really given many backstories, they did a great job of telling this story the way it should be told.

In the movie industry, both in Nollywood and even Hollywood, we know that a sequel is always weaker than the main movie because of the addition of new cast members. Still, these new additional cast members amplified this movie in this case. Their collaborative effort brought this story to life.

There is Nse Ikpe Etim as the very eloquent Jumoke Randle, Richard Mofe Damijo as Revd. Ifeanyi, Deyemi Okanlawon as Mr. Fashina, the campaign manager, Efa Iwara as Dapo Banjo, the journalist, Bimbo Manuel as his boss, Keppy Ekpeyong Bassey as President Mumusa, Kelechi Udegbe as his aide, Charley Boy as Odudubariba, Lord Frank as Tunde Randle, Ik Osakioduwa as Yussuf of KAV TV, the legendary Taiwo Ajayi Lycett as Mama Randle, the list is endless! Is there any actor that didn’t do well in this series?

And by the way, is that how rich people behave?

They kicked Jumoke Randle out at the first opportunity they got when everything she ever did in her life was to protect their interest!! That was not fair at all!

I hope Ajah traffic will not kill her!

Anyway, we cannot but talk about some plot holes that were not settled from the first part and were not explained in this sequel. For example, what was Alhaja Eniola Salami doing while in exile? How did Makanaki of this sequel come to be? Who is Odudubariba supposed to be, and where did he emerge from? And why is Revd. Ifeanyi’s character really relevant to the plot?

Nevertheless, we know is that this sequel is a win for Nollywood. And when someone asks you if anything good has ever come out from Nollywood, beat your chest and point to this masterpiece! This one will leave you with questions to keep arguing about till the next sequel.

And as a spoiler to the next sequel, I would love to see a little bit of Ade Tiger’s back story. Maybe Alhaja Eniola Salami had an affair with his father and gave birth to him but couldn’t claim him because so so so and so…

A girl can think wishfully, right?