December 22, 2025
Atty. Torran Garcia (Rocco Nacino) married a singer Jazz (Glaiza de Castro), and was now a law professor at his alma mater. Atty. Christian Carlson (Enzo Pineda) was a big time lawyer in New York City, but whose marriage was on the rocks. Atty. Erik Vicencio (Carlo Aquino) was a lawyer of a NGO helping farmers who just narrowly escaped being shot. Joshua Zuniga (Kean Cipriano) got disillusioned with his showbiz career, and returned to law school.
Torran took over a class in political law in the absence of Justice Hernandez (Odette Khan). Among the groupmates of Josh in that class were Arvin Asuncion (Will Ashley), who had to balance his studies with a menial job; CJ David (Therese Malvar), whose goal was to fight against a quarrying company destroying their remote village; and Trisha Perez (Sassa Gurl), a brilliant transwoman student who was on her way to becoming their class valedictorian.
The events of this sequel happened 10 years after the events of the first film, "Bar Boys" (2017, MY REVIEW), also written, directed and co-produced by Kip Oebanda. This time around, Oebanda had the help of fellow writer-directors Carlo Catu and Zig Dulay in writing the script. Like the original, this sequel also contained classroom recitations, legal discussions and current issues. We see ruthless tactics of expensive wily lawyers to get their clients off the hook, as exemplified by Atty. Rhodina Banal (a formidable turn by Sheila Francisco).
The four main actors have grown up in outlook and in look. Even if he is the eldest of them at age 40, Carlo Aquino still looked as youthful and vulnerable as he did in the first film. Rocco Nacino looked respectable and professorial with his glasses and premature greys. Enzo Pineda looked very inch the prideful rich guy whose guts you'd hate. His Chris was being such an insensitive pain when he complained about his wife, you'd cheer Jazz on when she told him off big time. We can see how much Kean Cipriano had matured from his old photos in the collection of his big fan Mae (a scene-stealing film debut by Klarisse de Guzman).
The three younger actors who played the aspiring lawyers also had their respective moments to shine. Therese Malvar is known to be an intense actress since she was a child, so it was no surprise how she made the most of her limited screen time. On the other hand, trans comedian Sassa Gurl surprised me as she spouted legalese in a smart and serious performance as Trisha. Will Ashley got to show off his drama skills as his Arvin was the most challenging role of the three. Emilio Daez, as Arvin's stoic but sympathetic boss Chef Ziggy, was also given a memorable moment as he urged his employee to pursue his passion.
79 year-old Ms. Odette Khan, who had won multiple Best Supporting Awards for the first film, is billed as lead this time. All her scenes were particularly well-written, with several quotable quotes about life and the law. Her words about lawyers being "invisible by design" and how integrity was "the courage to be disliked" stuck to me. Her iconic Justice Hernandez may have mellowed down with her age and health, but Ms. Khan's performance still hits very hard. The best scenes of each actor in the cast were those they shared with her. Ms. Khan knew that this is the role she is going to be best remembered for, and she gave it her all. 8/10
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