Arts & Leisure
Posted on December 28, 2015 04:51:00 PM
By Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman, Reporter
Good trailer trailed off
Movie Review
Nilalang
Directed by Pedring Lopez
Produced by Haunted Tower Pictures, Inc., welovepost, Parallax Studios, VIVA Films
If a movie entry in this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) has the guts to showcase its full trailer long before any other entry does, it must be that ready for a good fight at the box office. But Nilalang, a suspense-thriller starring Cesar Montano, Meg Imperial, and Japanese adult film star Maria Ozawa, is, unfortunately, nothing like its captivating and promising preview.
The good trailer which highlighted the movie’s superior special effects and musical scoring, however, paid off. Nilalang collected five awards at the annual MMFF Gabi ng Parangal, including best cinematography, best editing, best musical score, best sound engineer, and best visual effects. The technical advantage of the independent movie directed by Pedring Lopez was undeniable. But the actual film is a far cry from its good trailer. The verdict: It is bad, baduy (corny), and boring. And we thought it was supposed to be a thriller?
The two-hour movie follows police officers Tony (Montano) and Jane (Imperial) and their quest for a “nilalang” (entity) responsible for a series of murders in Japan and the Philippines.
The plot seemed promising. It could be a local version of the Japanese film and TV series Detective Conan.
Nilalang was the talk of the town when news had it that Maria Ozawa would star in a Filipino movie. For the uninitiated, Ms. Ozawa used to be a prominent porn star in Japan. As expected, Nilalang’s captive audience were men, who, we were very sure, were all just interested in Mr. Montano’s action skills and scenes. When my mother and I watched the movie, the only others in the theater were men.
Moviegoers -- at least the 10 other people I watched with at Robinson’s Manila -- were lured by its trailer into thinking that it might rival epic Japanese movies, including Rurouni Kenshin 3, which was showed earlier this year, which highlight killer ninja moves and realistic prosthetics and makeup. But regrettably, Nilalang is no Rurouni Kenshin orDetective Conan, neither in a concrete and solid story line nor in action scenes.
There were high hopes for Nilalang thanks to its trailers and cast, but unfortunately, it all had to die down come show time. Neither Mr. Montano’s acting skills (he was highly acclaimed in Jose Rizal and Muro Ami) nor Ms. Ozawa’s appeal could save the movie. The musical scoring is its saving grace, but it isn’t enough.
The movie starts with a long and confusing history of Zahagur, a bad spirit residing in the pages of a 17th century book, whose main mission was to kill beautiful women in order to remain the fairest of them all. Released when the book’s pages were torn, Zahagur goes on a killing spree. Zahagur’s gender is vague, because the voice used was that of a man, yet it kills women to remain the most beautiful, so we could only guess she’s a she. The whole movie revolves around chasing Zahagur before s/he can kill more pretty women. Mr. Montano and Ms. Imperial’s characters end up seeking the help of Japanese club owner Ms. Ozawa, who apparently, is Zahagur’s main target.
Is Nilalang a messed up version of Snow White?
Then, there are the loopholes. Some are forgivable, otheres are not: Why did the bad spirit fly from Japan to the Philippines? Why could Mr. Montano’s character speak fluent Japanese?
While lacking in the heart-stopping scenes which any suspense-thriller genre should have, Nilalang tries to make up for it with steaming makeout sessions -- which are all cringe-worthy by the way.
One of the ingredients of a formulaic action-suspense movie includes heavy and unnecessary kissing scenes between a sexy female character and the male protagonist because, yes, the majority of these movies are men. But, seriously, guys, who has time for a lip lock in the middle of a do-or-die fight? Apparently, Mr. Montano and Ms. Ozawa. According to reports, Mr. Montano’s smooch session lasted for four minutes straight.
But then again, the moviegoers did not shell out P200++ to watch tattoo-covered Maria Ozawa make out with Cesar Montano, nor to see how good its musical scoring was (but we appreciate it). They were there for the story. Seriously, was Nilalang just an adult version of Snow White? Whatever happened to the promise of its good trailer?
MTRCB Rating: R-16
The good trailer which highlighted the movie’s superior special effects and musical scoring, however, paid off. Nilalang collected five awards at the annual MMFF Gabi ng Parangal, including best cinematography, best editing, best musical score, best sound engineer, and best visual effects. The technical advantage of the independent movie directed by Pedring Lopez was undeniable. But the actual film is a far cry from its good trailer. The verdict: It is bad, baduy (corny), and boring. And we thought it was supposed to be a thriller?
The two-hour movie follows police officers Tony (Montano) and Jane (Imperial) and their quest for a “nilalang” (entity) responsible for a series of murders in Japan and the Philippines.
The plot seemed promising. It could be a local version of the Japanese film and TV series Detective Conan.
Nilalang was the talk of the town when news had it that Maria Ozawa would star in a Filipino movie. For the uninitiated, Ms. Ozawa used to be a prominent porn star in Japan. As expected, Nilalang’s captive audience were men, who, we were very sure, were all just interested in Mr. Montano’s action skills and scenes. When my mother and I watched the movie, the only others in the theater were men.
Moviegoers -- at least the 10 other people I watched with at Robinson’s Manila -- were lured by its trailer into thinking that it might rival epic Japanese movies, including Rurouni Kenshin 3, which was showed earlier this year, which highlight killer ninja moves and realistic prosthetics and makeup. But regrettably, Nilalang is no Rurouni Kenshin orDetective Conan, neither in a concrete and solid story line nor in action scenes.
There were high hopes for Nilalang thanks to its trailers and cast, but unfortunately, it all had to die down come show time. Neither Mr. Montano’s acting skills (he was highly acclaimed in Jose Rizal and Muro Ami) nor Ms. Ozawa’s appeal could save the movie. The musical scoring is its saving grace, but it isn’t enough.
The movie starts with a long and confusing history of Zahagur, a bad spirit residing in the pages of a 17th century book, whose main mission was to kill beautiful women in order to remain the fairest of them all. Released when the book’s pages were torn, Zahagur goes on a killing spree. Zahagur’s gender is vague, because the voice used was that of a man, yet it kills women to remain the most beautiful, so we could only guess she’s a she. The whole movie revolves around chasing Zahagur before s/he can kill more pretty women. Mr. Montano and Ms. Imperial’s characters end up seeking the help of Japanese club owner Ms. Ozawa, who apparently, is Zahagur’s main target.
Is Nilalang a messed up version of Snow White?
Then, there are the loopholes. Some are forgivable, otheres are not: Why did the bad spirit fly from Japan to the Philippines? Why could Mr. Montano’s character speak fluent Japanese?
While lacking in the heart-stopping scenes which any suspense-thriller genre should have, Nilalang tries to make up for it with steaming makeout sessions -- which are all cringe-worthy by the way.
One of the ingredients of a formulaic action-suspense movie includes heavy and unnecessary kissing scenes between a sexy female character and the male protagonist because, yes, the majority of these movies are men. But, seriously, guys, who has time for a lip lock in the middle of a do-or-die fight? Apparently, Mr. Montano and Ms. Ozawa. According to reports, Mr. Montano’s smooch session lasted for four minutes straight.
But then again, the moviegoers did not shell out P200++ to watch tattoo-covered Maria Ozawa make out with Cesar Montano, nor to see how good its musical scoring was (but we appreciate it). They were there for the story. Seriously, was Nilalang just an adult version of Snow White? Whatever happened to the promise of its good trailer?
MTRCB Rating: R-16
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