The much-awaited comeback of action movies in Philippine cinema is here. The question now is how long will this comeback last?
The controversial Manila Kingpin, the sixth remake of Tondo gangster Asiong Salonga’s biopic (and I wonder if there is anything ‘untold’ in his story after six films), is successful in lighting the fire once again for action films to thrive in mainstream cinema. This genre has disappeared in the last decade or so, perhaps because of the big investment needed in producing such films that could rival Hollywood’s explosive action films.
Fortunately, Scenema Concept International, the movie’s producer, took the risk to reintroduce this genre to recapture the interest of moviegoers, particularly the male population. Films produced in the last decade of Philippine commercial cinema were mostly melodrama and romance films—genres not attractive to males in general.
Never before have I seen such a shot in Filipino action films |
John Regala (winner Best Supporting Actor) leads the ensemble cast, who all gave a superb performance |
love the 50s look! |
Four things I don’t like about the film: the Asiong Salonga character should have been played by a younger actor; the icky feeling I get whenever Ejercito and Carla Avellana kiss on screen (and there were many!); dialogues emphasizing Asiong’s support to the Liberal Party (it’s too many and lacks subtlety); a scene where Asiong and Fidela (Carla Avellana) were talking in their bedroom about the dangerous life that Asiong is living. Fidela tells him that she’s worried, and Asiong says that she should not worry; what she should worry about is their children and how to stay pretty and adds that she should just wait for him to come home (I was like, did you really include that in the script?).
Manila Kingpin bags almost all awards in the MMFF 2011 |
Now, where is that director’s cut? I’m dying to see it.
Images from:
pep.ph
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