Title: EMERALD (1 & 2)

Sequel: WILD PASSION (1 & 2)

AKA: THE MYSTERIOUS RING 

Starring: Genevieve Nnaji, Majid Michel, Tonto Dikeh, Halima Abubaka, Geraldine Ekeocha, Joy Ladi Torty

Synopsis:

A woman purchases a ring that seemed to submerge her into odd dreams as she slept.

Review:

Emerald (Genevieve Nnaji) set out to help her cousin, Becky (Tonto Dikeh), open a new antique shop.  Becky had just returned from abroad and she thought Emerald could lend some business management skills to her establishment. 

When the two shopped for antique inventory for the store, Emerald came across an emerald ring that happened to fit her perfectly.  Upon wearing it she had elaborate dreams of Max (Majid Michel), who was a complete stranger that had beat her to a taxi a few days prior. In reality she was disappointed that Max wasn’t gracious enough to offer her the taxi yet she came away feeling attracted to him. 

In one of the dreams, Emerald was a servant in a palace where Max lived as royalty. It took place during ancient times and the romantic feelings they shared was forbidden because she was a commoner and he was a prince.    

The one thing that remained constant in all of her dreams was that Emerald and Max were in love and Max was always unhappily married. What did it all mean? Why was she dreaming of a man she barely knew? 

Emerald was spooked and returned the ring for a refund. An eerie saleswoman explained the rings’ historical powers and it turned out that Emerald’s ownership of the ring was no accident.

Let’s Talk. This is a drama powdered with a little magic. Most of the movie was about Emeralds’ dreams which encompassed forbidden love, scorned wives, and murder. The major problem was the story’s delivery. 

First of all, it was waaay too long. It was wordy with many super extended scenes. For instance, when characters had a moment of solitude, we had to watch them think or feel whatever it was that they were feeling for three to five minutes. Not only was it a waste of screen time, it was also tiresome to watch. Fast-forwarding was definitely necessary to get to the point of the movie. 

Another annoying issue was that most of part one was repeated in the sequel!!  We had already seen those scenes so there was no reason to rehash them. Clearly, the filmmakers never heard the word “CUT” which caused the editing to be horrific. 

The story was also confusing at times. It wasn’t always crystal clear whether Emerald was dreaming or not.  The movie could have used some visual effects to clarify dreams from reality. Maybe the budget didn’t call for such devises. Who knows? But nonetheless they were needed. 

What the movie had going for it was the acting. Majid Michel’s emotional levels were all over the map – in a good way. He was madly in love, he was passionate, and then he was borderline crazy. He had some nice theatrical moments thanks to his rapport with Genevieve. 

Audio and video sufficed. The music wasn’t the best. Who was that singing? OMG. 

At the end of the day, this seemed to be one of the longest movies ever. Poor story execution ruined what could have been a workable story and four parts was definitely unnecessary.

Please note that this movie is also known as “The Mysterious Ring” EJECT