Entries for December 30th, 2007
[ December 30th, 2007 ]
Movie Review: Resiklo
I know I said this site was supposed to be for bashing fanfics, but I thought I might sneak in a review or two. Because I'm a complete amateur at this, I'll approach reviews in a story-characters-script/direction format. I'm not really one to comment on music, because I admittedly suck at that. In fact, I'm going to review this as if I'm going to review a novel, because that's what I'm used to.
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If you're a Filipino and don't know what Resiklo is, you've probably been secluded from the rest of the world by your own parents because they think you're insane and have chained you to the toilet for the last ten years. But, for you, my psychologically challenged friend, I give a rundown of the year's most effects-heavy movie.
Resiklo is an Imus Productions bang baby, directed by Mark Reyes and produced by Annette Gozon-Abrogar and Vic del Rosario. Mark Reyes might sound familiar, as the guy directed Atlantica and Kamandag. He also did Mulawin: the Movie. Huh. So this guy is into fantasy and sci-fi. He might be the best bet, because this movie is a sci-fi movie and is so far the Philippines' best in special effects, after Exodus (another Bong Revilla Jr. movie). It's also a heavily advertised movie. Here's a trivia for you: in Bubble Gang, movie posters of Resiklo were on the backgrounds of the gags, and Bong mentioned the movie in a scene of his. Now I just had to watch this to see what it was like.
The Story
Aliens have decimated the planet, and humans struggle to survive as they live in hiding. It's a pretty simplistic, futuristic plot, and if I haven't watched similar premises (The Terminator, The Matrix), I would have thought this was cool. Well, it is, just not as cool now that I've seen the story before. Still, it makes for lots of well-placed drama and heroics. Aliens make good villains. Just look at Independence Day! What cut this movie short of being another Independence Day are the damn plot holes. Sometimes, you just don't know how the hell something happened, and how this character ended up in this place so fast. Plus, a lot of logic is lost in some of the fighting sequences, and you ask questions such as 'why did these people have to line up and get off their robots when they're about to go into battle?' and 'why waste lives and resources to fight when they're going to leave anyway?' Although there were some nice plot twists in there, it gets jarring when you stop and ask yourself why you should believe what's happening.
The Characters
In most Filipino action/adventure movies I've watched, I never like the characters. They end up being poorly developed and shallow, and some are just annoying. In Resiklo, there are some characters I liked.
Angelo (played by Dingdong Dantes) is a cool character with an interesting relationship with his father and peers, and badass fighting skills (I chuckled when he danced/fought ala-Christie and Eddy from Tekken). Capoeira? I wouldn't have thought of that. Though it disappoints me that there is no explanation on how Angelo learned it. Nevertheless, he was a cool character throughout, and the best part is, he never gets together with anyone. At least, not as a boyfriend, but as a plain friend. What I don't like, though, is the all-too-quick resolution of his family problems. Maybe the final scene with his father would have been made a few seconds longer, or maybe Angelo would have said more than something along the lines of "Of course I forgive you for not believing in me and insulting me in front of the whole compound."
The 'Boys', as I call them, are good characters too. These are the teenagers who hang with Angelo, and are played by Revilla's lads and Luis Alandy (I think). They make for funny comedy, and it's interesting to note that they kick alien ass at their age. I just wish they had more screen time, especially at the old gas station scene. How would boys like these react when under fire from aliens and one of them wounded? Also, didn't they care that one of their number died? Detail like that would've made the movie more exciting, and it would have given the movie more depth. Maybe we could see some believable and smooth character development in a Filipino adventure movie. That would be the day.
Paolo Contis plays Denz, and is one of the funniest characters in a Filipino adventure movie I've seen. Maybe it's because the comedy isn't about his stupidity or lame one-liners, but rather his over-all silliness. Denz is actually a pretty smart character, and is somewhat the mechanic of the group. Paolo Contis relies on his comedic talent for this character. Although he didn't have much character development, he had enough screen time. Probably second to Bong Revilla in screen time, I think.
For some reason, I like Dos (Bobby Andrews) and Deacon (Benjie Paras). Deacon's human side taking over his alien side may look unlikely, but like he said, "God had other plans for me." His changing sides was not only unexpected (at least to me) until a scene or two before it, but it brings hope that perhaps not all the Mutanos (humans whose wills and minds belong to the Balangs or aliens) have lost their humanity. Dos, on the other hand, I like because he's bad. Maybe I like him because of his 'rivalry' with Angelo. Also, out of all the characters, he's one of the few who actually have a personality. I just think maybe he might show his dislike for Angelo more in at least a few seconds before the actual battle, since Dos looks to me like a Mutano who shows emotion in the form of rage. That would have given his character a bit of depth (and, more screen time). Plus, he's hot. *drools*
...Sorry, that's my fangirl side talking. Back to the review.
There are a lot more characters here, including Crisval (Bong Revilla Jr.), but it'd render this article way too long. Besides, there's too much of Crisval in that movie for me to comment on. The guy has twice the amount of screen time as the other characters combined! ...Okay, that was an exaggeration, but it's pretty close to the truth. Sure, he's the main character and all, but they could have at least balanced it out by giving the other characters just as much love from the camera. I named a few that might have needed necessary character detail and development. *coughdoscough* Oh, fangirl again. Reeeeeally sorry about that. I can't help it.
Cinematography
In my opinion, Resiklo has one of the best cinematographies so far in this year's Metro Manila Film Festival, seconded by Batanes (which is a boring movie if not for the scenery). You just gotta admire the awesome CGI. That is, if you haven't been raised watching movies like Star Wars, Alien, the Predator, and Transformers. You kinda get disappointed when there isn't as much fighting as you'd hoped. They overlooked a detail, too: when the robots step on wet ground, there are no footprints left behind. While the fight between Crisval's robot and the head alien was wonderfully done, the last brawl between Angelo and Dos had left much to be desired. Suddenly, all the fighting around them disappears and we're left with a couple of pairs of guys fighting behind them. That just screams lazy. Or maybe they were cutting down on costs for the effects for their background.
Direction and Script
Average, to say the least. I'd say the great battlefield scene needed to show more people dying. Now I'm not one of those people who like a movie because of deaths. I hate gore horror movies and I didn't watch 300. It's just that it would have been more realistic to show that people actually died in that battle. No one from the good guys even got seriously injured. The worst injury was Ice's (or Strike's, I couldn't tell) leg, and that was only perhaps because Dr. Miles was slicing the wound and playing with it like a kid and her playdough (watch her hands in the scene where she treats the wound, and you'll know what I mean). Crisval's arm? Pfft. That's a flesh wound. He was cut by a damn spinning razor and all he got was a shallow wound. The poison thing doesn't count as an injury, because he didn't get it from a physical fight. I'm just saying that if a character can shoot down dozens of mutated humans without taking cover and not get shot, he needs to get reasonably roughed up to be realistic. Come on, it was like I was watching an old Filipino action movie! Bullets fly (lazers, in this case) and yet no injuries! Not even a little blood? Do I have to beg for people to get seriously hurt in this movie?
And don't get me started on the script. The plot has more holes than a strainer. Seriously, I could drain pasta with it. I appreciate the effort put into explaining the blind girl's powers, but there are too many skipped details and glazed over scenes. For example, I spent a whole minute laughing at the movie's use of a song to glaze over what might have been an action-filled sequence as Crisval roamed the alien base. I only realized later that Crisval didn't encounter any aliens or Mutanos because everyone seemed to have left the ship to attack the humans. Though it still strikes me as strange that Crisval didn't run into anybody when the female Mutano was there with a few Balangs. And there's the gas station scene, too. That was a waste of a good action scene. It concentrated way too much on Crisval, and I kept wondering what the teenagers were doing during most of it. Also, Ice/Strike must've been sleeping on the job if he didn't notice the aliens from his vantage point until the last second.
Some scenes or shots were so unrealistically done (script-wise and direction-wise) that they ended up being quite comical (to me, anyway).
Conclusion
The Filipino adventure movie industry still has a long way to go. However, it might not look it, but I liked this movie. Over all, there are some things to like from the film. Maybe you just have to sit back, shut down your mind and logic, and admire the pretty CG and Dos's close-ups.