Review of BALLERINA: Fighting as a Female

June 5. 2025

When Eve was still a little girl (Victoria Comte), their house was attacked by a band of assassins attempting to kill her father Javier (David Castaneda). The killers were led by the Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne), who was angry with Javier because he went rogue against their organization. The Chancellor gave Javier a pistol with a single bullet and offered him the choice to shoot himself so his daughter lives, or to shoot him and both of them will die.

12 years later, Eve (Ana de Armas) was training as a ballerina under the Director (Anjelica Huston). The Director was also the head of the Roma Ruska, an underground organization of assassins, and Eve was also training in their deadly trade. Eve was taught by her trainer Nogi (Sharon Duncan-Brewster) to "fight like a girl," meaning to take advantage of her femaleness in order to get the upper hand over her bigger, stronger opponents. 

The title "Ballerina" is preceded by "From the World of John Wick," as it is the fifth film of that franchise. In "John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum," when Wick first met the Director (also played by Huston),  a ballerina named Rooney was on the stage failing her pirouettes. Rooney was played by Unity Phelan before, but now, she is named Eve and played by de Armas. Scenes of Wick walking down the stairs and being branded at the back in that film were revisited here.

Willowy Ana de Armas may seem like an unlikely assassin of deadly skill. But, as this is the John Wick universe, so we need to suspend our disbelief big time in order to enjoy watching her plow through one horde of pro assassins after another. In the third act, all the residents of an entire town were all after her, and still she prevailed. The way Eve survived being bodily hurled and slammed here, she might as well be made of steel. Her fighting style did not really reflect her ballet training though, not sure why she had to be one. 

Aside from the non-stop bone-crushing fights, fans of the John Wick franchise will enjoy seeing the New York Continental Hotel again, along with its owner Winston Scott (Ian McShane) and concierge Charon (the late Lance Reddick in his final movie appearance). Of course, the highlight was seeing the baba yaga John Wick himself in a fight in the final fiery half-hour, though ever the gentleman, Reeves never stole de Armas's thunder. There are three more John Wick films in production after this, and yes, we are excited about them! 7/10

Review of KARATE KID: LEGENDS: Synergistic Styles

June 1, 2025

Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) ran a big kung fu school in Beijing. One of his best students was his grand-nephew Li (Ben Wang), a young man troubled by memories of his elder brother's death. One day, Li's physician mother Dr. Fong (Ming-Na Wen) brought a reluctant Li to New York City where she had been accepted to work. One of Li's first friends was Mia (Sadie Stanley), daughter of Victor Lipani (Joshua Jackson), a former boxer who now owned a pizza parlor. 

This film continues the story of the "Karate Kid" franchise -- a spin-off sequel. It started with a story which Mr. Miyagi told Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) back in 1986. Apparently, Miyagi's ancestor was a fisherman whose boat got washed away by a storm all the way to China. There, the Han family rescued him, and later taught him the Chinese martial art of kung-fu.  When Miyagi went back to his home in Okinawa, Japan, he developed the fighting techniques further and called it Karate.  

Ralph Macchio was Daniel in the first three films (1984, 1986 and 1989), but not in the 1994 "The Next Karate Kid" (with Hilary Swank) nor the 2010 reboot "The Karate Kid" (with Jaden Smith). In the last film, Jackie Chan played the kung-fu master of bullied boy Dre (played by an 11 year old Jaden Smith) in Beijing. Macchio would return to play Daniel vis-a-vis his old rival Johnny (William Zabka) in the series "Cobra Kai" streaming on Netflix from 2021 to 2025. 

Macchio is now a young-looking 63 year old, and playing Daniel LaRusso remains to be what he is best known for. Chan is still youthfully energetic now at 71 years old, and it had always been a pleasure watching him kung-fu fighting on the big screen. Mr. Han flew to L.A. to request LaRusso to teach his ward Li the Miyagi-style of karate, in order make Li ready to face the upcoming underground fight competition -- Five Borough's Tournament.  

The original story about a boy taught by his mentors to get ready for a big fight was still very much there. Ben Wang's Li was a capable kung-fu fighter who already had a spectacular dragon kick move from the start, but he had to learn new techniques from Han and LaRusso ("two branches, one tree") before he can face his big bully Conor Day (Aramis Knight). Even if the final outcome was obvious, the fight scenes were still very much worth the watch. 6/10. 

Review of LILO AND STITCH (2025): Accepting an Alien

May 23, 2025

The United Galactic Federation had convicted Dr. Jumba Jookiba for his illegal genetic experiments which had resulted in the creation of a violent, indestructible creature whom he called Experiment 626 (Chris Sanders). Sentenced for exile 626 carnapped a red police cruiser that brought him to planet Earth. However, instead of landing in water (which was fatal for him given his high molecular density), his cruiser landed on one island in Hawaii. 

When both their parents passed away one day, teenager Nani (Sydney Elizebeth Agudong) had to forego her plans for going to the university to study marine biology. However, she had her hands full keeping her 6-year old sister Lilo (Maia Kealoha) in control, especially under the watchful eyes of social worker Mrs. Kekoa (Tia Carrere, the original voice of Nani). Motherly next-door neighbor Tutu (Any Hill) and her surfer son David (Kaipo Dudoit) tried their best to help her babysit. 

As the 2002 animated original film told us before, Lilo would adopt Stitch as her ugly pet dog leading to hilarious chaos, and heartwarming sentiment. Despite the unwieldy mixture of alien sci-fi and Hawaiian culture, it won critical acclaim and box-office success.  It famously taught us the Hawaiian concept of "ohana" that meant "family," that meant "nobody gets left behind or forgotten," a line of enduring appeal and impact, much like "Hakuna matata" before it.

Aside from giving David a mother, this reboot gave Nani a backstory out for more dramatic impact. The social worker Cobra Bubbles character had been split into two for this remake -- social worker Mrs. Kekoa and CIA agent Cobra (Courtney Vance). For them to be able to blend in better, the aliens going after 626, Dr. Jumba and bumbling "Earth expert" Agent Pleakley, were made to inhabit human forms of Zach Galifianakis and Billy Magnussen.  Jason Scott Lee, the original voice of David, also has a cameo appearance.

This new 2025 version was again a live-action adaptation, following all the previous ones that Disney had been releasing recently. This one was rather uneven for me. The animatronic character design of Stitch was very cute, but the scenes of him and the aliens was being destructive felt scarier and more dangerous. I understand why they chose to scrap the whole Gantu spacecraft battle in the third act as its too violent for a live action kids film. However, having live actors trumped the animated version when it came to the emotionally-affecting family scenes. 7/10

Review of CONMOM: Forcing the Funny

May 22, 2025

Pinky (Kaye Abad) retired from being a theater actress when she got married to wealthy Anton Gonzales (Kit Thompson) and became a mother to Yana (Valerie Talion), now 7 years old. She still kept in touch with her theater colleagues Benok (Paolo Contis), Jetboy (Empoy Marquez) and her cousin director Oyet (Patrick Garcia), who all became Yana's godparents. They remained to be Pinky's best friends and shoulders for her to cry on. 

One day, Pinky saw Anton walking with his mistress Rachel (Kiel Canoza), who was even pregnant. When she confronted him and told him that she is tired of her chronic womanizing. Exasperatedly, she told him that she wants out of their marriage. Instead of being apologetic, Anton shocked her by throwing her out of the house and proceeded to cut off all contact with her daughter. Pinky had to resort to stealthy ploys (the titular "con") just to see Yana. 

This film was two hours long, but the plot about a marriage on the rocks and the child caught in between was a commonly-told tale in Filipino films. Director Noel Tonga just padded the main story core of the film with long, loving shots of picturesque Boljoon, Cebu (that magnificent old church just across the street from the wide open sea was so inviting, you'd want to go visit this place right away), and silly uneven comedy routines by Pinky's three friends (these lame attempts at "humor" felt forced than truly funny). 

The various "cons" Pinky and her friends did to see Yana -- supposedly the point of this movie -- were not planned or executed well, with terrible masks and ugly wigs. The one involving a "merman" on the beach was very corny. The part where their gang tried to recreate the film shoot rescue plot from Oscar Best Picture winner "Argo" (2012) during the girl's birthday in her school was wasted with that seemingly endless run to get from her classroom to the front gate. The climactic airport con was so clunky obvious, it surely could have been done better.  

While Kaye Abad really played Pinky in the most sympathetic way, one could not help but wonder why it felt as if this script had thrown all the progress of the women's movement over the years all out of the window. Pinky not only let abusive Anton walk all over her, and she had to resort to playing fools in order to talk to Yana. When her desperation reached her peak, she actually tearfully knelt on the floor before him, begging him to let her back into the house. Abad went all out for this scene, but honestly it was just so painful to watch. 2/10

Review of FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES: Deliverance from Death?

May 20, 2025

"Final Destination" is a horror film franchise that began in 2000. It was about a group of young people who cheated death by missing an airplane that exploded in mid-air, so Death went after them to kill them one by one in gruesome fashion. The story of this first film was actually a repurposing of an idea for the "X-Files" TV series, hence X-philes will recognize the names of director James Wong, and his writing partner Glen Morgan among the creatives behind it. 

Over the years, there had been four more sequels that followed the same story framework -- a premonition causing some people meant to die to avoid dying in a disaster, so a piqued Death came after these survivors. FD2 (2003) was about a massive vehicular pile-up on the expressway. FD3 (2006) was about a roller coaster crash. FD4 (2009) was about a race car crashing into the grandstand. FD5 (2011) was about a major bridge collapsing in a city. 

It was only 14 years later that a new sequel has been released, still following the same formula. In 1968, Iris Campbell (Brec Bassinger) had a premonition that the glass floor of a nightclub at the top of a new tower was breaking, and her warning saved everyone there. In the present time, Stefani Ramos (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) was having bad nightmares about that disaster, and surmised that Iris was her estranged grandmother (Gabrielle Rose).  

The big twist here was that Death was exacting revenge not only on the main clairvoyant, but also on her whole family. Stefani noted that Death may be going for her relatives in order of seniority, and this upped the sense of paranoia especially for the next one in line. The fact that this series of deaths were happening within a family also gives a different dynamic.  As it had been for the past films, the main draw of this film was the wild mechanisms of death and gore level of these kills -- the more over-the-top, the more gruesome, the better. 

For true fans of film horror, there was a sentimental moment in the middle of this new film because of a cameo from a horror film icon -- Tony Todd. While he was better known as "Candyman" (1992), Todd also appeared in FD 1, 2 and 5 as mortician William Bludworth. In his one scene, Todd already looked weak and cachectic from the stomach cancer he was suffering from. He delivered a line about the preciousness of life, reportedly unscripted, that will surely connect emotionally with viewers.  This was Todd's final screen appearance. 7/10

 

Review of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE: THE FINAL RECKONING: Eliminating the Entity

May 17, 2025

It has been two months since Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) acquired the two halves of a key which was needed to gain control of the Entity. The US President Erica Sloane (Angela Bassett) had personally reached out to Hunt to surrender the key to her government. However, Hunt believed that the Entity should be destroyed outright. This powerful artificial intelligence was now wreaking havoc, taking over the nuclear arsenals of the world.

The action picked up right from where "Dead Reckoning Part 1" left off. In the first act, POTUS Sloane is faced with tough decisions as the US nukes were fast becoming the next target of being controlled by the Entity. Meanwhile, Hunt was deep into planning with his group -- Luther (Ving Rhames), Benji (Simon Pegg) and the master thief Grace (Hayley Atwell) -- to rescue Paris (Pom Klementieff) from prison in order to get to Gabriel (Esai Morales).  

We already learned in the last film that the key will be used to access the source code of Entity in the doomed Russian submarine Sevastopol. The second act was dedicated to how Ethan was able to locate the sunken sub and the extreme perils he faced to do his mission. Cruise's 20-minute long underwater stunt scene, as the sub was precariously slipping off its ledge with the torpedoes inside all falling down, gave us all an intense experience of drowning panic. 

The third act told of how Ethan was going to insert Luther's Poison Pill (which was in Gabriel's possession) into the drive containing the Entity source code, while a countdown to global nuclear annihilation was fast winding down. To top the final stunt in the last film of train cars falling into a ravine, the finale here was a breathtaking "dogfight" of biplanes in the skies. Again, Cruise impressed with these spectacular, wild and crazy mid-air stunts.  

This is supposedly the final installment of a film franchise that started 29 years ago in 1996, the first film directed by suspense master Brian de Palma. Aside from Cruise and Rhames, it also featured Henry Czerny as IMF director, now CIA director Eugene Kittridge. This new film had several callbacks from the first film like Jim Phelps (Jon Voight), and IT William Donloe (Rolf Saxon) from the iconic Vault scene, including the knife that fell on the table. 

If he gave the last film had a rather humorous tone, director Christopher McQuarrie got lot more serious in this new one. The whole first hour was practically just a lot of talking. The first car chase scene was only seen in the last hour of this new one. Here, the fate of the whole world lay on the hands of a selected few, so the focus was on several decisions requiring intense moral discernment and judgement that needed to be made. 

Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt had certainly matured from that cocky young agent we first met in 1996. Compared to "Dead Reckoning" and "Top Gun Maverick," here Cruise himself looked like his age has finally caught up with his eternally youthful screen persona. However, you would not see that age from the elaborate stunts Cruise he gave his all for in this one. For these alone, "The Final Reckoning" deserves to be watched on the biggest screens. 8/10

 

Review of BLACK BAG: Flair to Fabricate

May 7, 2025

Agent George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) was given one week to identify the source of the leak of a top-secret software called Severus. The suspects were all his fellow agents within British Intelligence -- Freddie (Tom Burke), his girlfriend satellite specialist Clarissa (Marissa Abela), James (Rene Jean Page) and his girlfriend psychiatrist Dr. Zoe (Naomie Harris). The fifth suspect was George's own wife and fellow agent Kathryn (Cate Blanchett). 

The titular "black bag" in espionage parlance refers to a piece of classified information you cannot share with anyone. This film posits that the spy game is a game of lies and for agents, the skill of lying is a valuable asset. They made the six agents three romantically-involved couples, so there is an aspect of trusting a person who was supposed to by a professional liar. There are inevitably "black bags" which you cannot reveal to your significant other.

David Koepp was the writer behind big box-office hits like "Jurassic Park" (1993) and "Spider-Man" (2002). But in "Black Bag," Koepp came up with an intense psychological thriller about an investigation of a worldwide threat that was centered around a group of six people, one of whom was leaking vital info. Koepp's script was very wordy, complicated with spy jargon. The web-like plot seemed clear enough if you don't dwell on the details too much. 

Director Steven Soderbergh burst into the big time in 1989 when the first film he wrote and directed "Sex, Lies and Videotape" won the Palme D'Or at Cannes, making him the youngest winner of that prize at age 26. In 2001, he was nominated for Best Director Oscar for two films -- "Erin Brockovich" and "Traffic," and won for the latter. in He announced his retirement from film direction in 2013, but soon came back to work in 2016 with "Logan Lucky."

The way Soderbergh staged the confrontations of the film's characters made us feel like we were watching a play. That first dinner scene where George played a psychological game, challenging his colleagues to make a resolution, not for himself, but for the person on his right side. This, of course, led to hurtful revelations between the couples around the table. Interesting drama, yes, but these relationships were not really pertinent to the Severus plot. 

The first two acts, setting up the investigative scenario, which later made George an unwitting accomplice to a diversionary ruse of the enemy, were masterfully executed. Fassbender's dry methodical George and Blanchett's fiery Kathryn played off each other with such electric chemistry. The third act was made more complex with the involvement of their boss Stieglitz (Pierce Brosnan), but it did not exactly live up to the promise of the build-up. 7/10

Review of UNTOLD: Adulterated Ambition

May 1, 2025

Vivian Vera (Jodi Sta. Maria) was the only daughter of local cafeteria owner Monica (Gloria Diaz), who raised her solo after the death of her father Gerald (Gian Magdangal), an ace reporter whom Vivian idolized growing up. She achieved her dream when she overcame all odds to be chosen as the lead investigative reporter of the hit TV show "Untold," after she made public the secret ingredient of a restaurant's meat dishes. 

Vivian catapulted to even more fame after she exposed the heinous murder of informal settlers perpetrated by sadistic real-estate people, a grisly news story she did with her cameraman Benjie (Joem Bascon), dubbed as the "Cement Massacre." One day at the Quiapo Church, a mysterious woman (Ambrosia Taboneknek) slipped a crude charm bracelet on Vivian's wrist, telling her that she can now see the victims of her past sin.

Jodi Sta. Maria mettle as an actress needs no further proof, in any genre it seems. I've seen her as lead in two other fairly recent horror films, "Second Coming" (2019) as the stepmother of a possessed girl, and "Clarita" (2019) where her titular character herself was possessed. For this second one, she was also directed by Derick Cabrido, also her director here in "Untold." The chemistry between star and director was certainly palpable.

Cabrido also co-wrote the script together with Roselle Y. Monteverde and Noreen Capili. At first, it felt like the story was going to be just a one-dimensional one about avenging angry spirits. As it went on, there were more unpredictable layers to justify its two-hour running time. The violent crime scenes were not for the faint at heart, especially as they transgress into heartless and depraved territory. There should be a trigger warning for ailurophiles. 

The writers also squeezed in a cougar element, with Vivian's love-struck PA Jasper (a consistently engaging Juan Karlos). A very prominent subplot was about ambitious competitive female journalists who were vying for a single slot on the TV show, with rivals Elaine (Sarah Edwards) and Louise (a frustratingly anemic performance by Kaori Oinuma). A notable supporting role was Amanda (a standout performance by Lianne Valentin), daughter of a massacre victim Teresa (a haunting Ge Villamil in cement make-up). 7/10

Review of THUNDERBOLTS*: Unintended Union

April 29, 2025

CIA Director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss) was being impeached by the US Congress. In order to eliminate all evidence of her shenanigans, she separately ordered her hired mercenaries -- Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), John Walker (Wyatt Russell) and Antonia Dreykov (Olga Kurilenko) -- to proceed to one place for a mission. It dawned on them that Valentina wanted them to kill each other. 

The characters of this film were anti-heroes. They were flawed entities all had super-abilities but were laden with sad backstories and heavy mental health issues. They were lonely loners who were ready to kill or be killed. They certainly did not consider themselves to be heroic. Yet here they are, thrown together by cruel circumstance and forced to work with each other, using each others' strengths in order to get out of a situation that meant sure death. 

Later, there were two more characters who share the same anti-hero storyline who will join them. Yelena's father figure Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) had been reduced to driving a limousine for a living, missing the action he once had as the Red Guardian. Former Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) was now a congressman of the United States, a political position he was able to gain despite his shady violent past brainwashed by Hydra. 

And then there was the mysterious Bob (Lewis Pullman). He just suddenly showed up at the same place with the others, dressed only in pajamas, seemingly just an ordinary chap. No one knew who he was, not even Valentina herself.  Who Bob was and how he gained the impressive superpowers was one of the major storylines of this film. He fit right into this misfit group with his innate negativity which would evolve into a terrifying Void. 

Except for Bob, the others had been side-characters in prior MCU films and series. Of course, Bucky Barnes was the most well-known, as Steve Rogers' best friend in "Captain America: The First Avenger" (2011). Yelena, Alexei and Antonia were introduced in "Black Widow" (2021). Ghost was first seen in "Ant-Man and the Wasp" (2018). John Walker and Valentina Allegria de Fontaine debuted in Disney+ series "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" (2021). While not really that essential, your viewing would be better if you were familiar to you.

The overall mood was sad and dark, but writers Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo incorporate much wit and humor in the lines to balance things out. Director Jack Schreier's last feature film was "Paper Towns" (2015) and this is his first MCU project (and third film overall), but he felt like a seasoned veteran the way he handled the delicate subject matter of mental health and integrated this into the action-packed superhero genre.  There were fun energetic CGI-heavy sequences, but the emotional connection with broken characters remain felt and potent. 8/10

P.S. Stay to the end to see what that asterisk in the title is really all about. There is one mid-credits scene and another one at the very end of the closing credits. 

Review of SINNERS: Mesmerizing Musicality

 April 20, 2025

In 1932, Sammie (Miles Caton), nicknamed "Preacher Boy" because his father was the pastor of the local church, joined his older cousins, a pair of twin brothers nicknamed Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan). They had just come back to their Mississipi hometown with a stash of cash they gained after working for gangsters in Chicago. They wanted to open the best juke joint in their area, and Sammie was going to be their guitar-player and singer. 

They recruited liquor-loving Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo) to play piano, Chinese shopkeepers Bo and Grace (Yao and Li Jun Li) for the supplies, and big guy Cornbread (Omar Benson Miller) to be their doorman. Smoke's estranged wife Annie (Wunmi Mosaku) was the cook. Stack's ex-girlfriend Mary (Hailee Steinfeld) was still sore for being abandoned. Sammie met a sultry blues singer Pearline (Jaymie Lawson) on whom he had a big crush. 

Writer-director Ryan Coogler certainly took his time in telling his story. The entire first hour was spent on building this world of the Moore twins Smoke and Stack, introducing them and all the characters around them, so that we will care about what happens to them in the second half of the film.  At first, we needed clues to distinguish the twins -- Smoke wore a blue beret, while Stack wore a red fedora. Later, Jordan made sure we could tell which twin was who.

From the very beginning, we already knew that music was going to play an important role in this movie. The narrator tells us how cultures all over the world all believed that music could have supernatural powers. When Sammie told his pastor father that he was going to play blues music, he was warned how this music could bring him towards danger. Blues music is laden with sensual melancholy as derived from Afro-American work songs and spirituals.

The highlight of the second act was that auditory spectacle of hearing Sammie sing and play guitar in the juke joint. Hearing a preview of Miles Caton's rich singing voice for the first time in the car was already so great. However, his spellbinding performance on that stage on opening night, that was truly breathtaking. You simply need to hear it to believe how this music was able to summon spirits from the future and the past, and the supernatural.

Winmi Mosaku's Annie may not fit in the mold of a typical Michael B. Jordan leading lady, but she was way more woman than any other -- a strong and sultry earth mother. Hailee Steinfeld stood out not because of her light skin color, but likewise for the maturity of the Mary role, so far from how we knew her from "True Grit" (2010) or the "Hawkeye" Disney+ series (2021). Jayme Lawson was a sensually-charged Pearline, especially in her song "Pale Pale Moon." 

The third act began abruptly with a sudden appearance of an Irish guy named Remmick (Jack O'Connell) who had escaped from an Indian tribe. From that time on, the film took on a totally different atmosphere of dread and horror, a jarring turnaround from the socio-cultural flavor of the first two acts. These new monsters were deadly, but still retained their original personality before they turned. The mid-credit scene must definitely not be missed. 9/10  

Review of FATHERLAND: Finding a Father

April 22, 2025

After his mother Amparo (Max Eigenmann) passed away in San Francisco USA, Alex (Inigo Pascual) decided to come back to the Philippines to search for his long-estranged father Ipe (Allen Dizon). Bringing along his girlfriend Janet (Ara Davao), his first stop was their hometown in Arayat, Pampanga, where he met his father's brother Yoyong (Jim Pebanco), who suffered a stroke after being pressured by a real estate company to sell their farm.

Further clues brought Alex to the house of Yasmin (Angel Aquino) in Mindanao, who knew Ipe as Fayez, a man who converted to Islam to marry her. Fayez took a second wife Farida (Ara Mina). Thanks to his social media post, Alex's next destination was the town of San Sebastian, where an aide of the Vice Mayor Gwen Gueco (Mercedes Cabral) named Riza (Karel Kinouchi) recognized Ipe as Teban, a gay unstable vagrant-turned-janitor. 

With "Fatherland," director Joel Lamangan was attempting to do an epic film, with a story of a family that would span decades of time and the whole country. Despite budget limitations, it was very ambitious, aspiring to be another "Aguila" (Eddie Romero, 1980) or "Hindi Mo Ako Kayang Tapakan" (Maryo delos Reyes, 1984). Lamangan got Roy Iglesias (who also wrote his "Mano Po" films) and gathered a big cast of veterans and newcomers to bring his characters to life.

There was a major detour involving Mayor Rose Chen (Cherrie Pie Picache), who abetted illegal immigrants to settle and get work in San Sebastian by bribing police, the BIR and the Immigration. Picache played Chen with tongue-in-cheek campiness, obviously a parody of a certain mayor who was raised in a farm and homeschooled. Richard Yap and Rebecca Chuaunsu led Chinoy actors who had roles in this part of the film.

Allen Dizon played three characters, although the first two were both hotheaded guys. His highlight was this one scene where he would transition from one persona to another in close succession, with Ipe speaking Kapampangan, Fayez Arabic, and Teban swardspeak. Inigo Pascual's Alex was mostly a passive bystander, but he got his big emotional moment in the climax of the third act, which he pulled off well despite distracting medical inaccuracies.

A distinctive directorial decision was placing Alex right in thick of the flashbacks as a silent witness to the tumultuous events in his father's life, which may look awkward. Lamangan and Iglesia tried to tie it all up in the final act with a polarizing explanation, but tackling too many side topics like land grabbing, suicide bombing, Chinese mafia and even female genital mutilation, tended to make the whole movie feel overstuffed and unfocused. 6/10