"I don't like it. It's not boring enough."
But the MMFF movies have the tendency to be bad -- really bad. Imagine Scary Movie 3 or The Epic Movie and add maybe a little drama to that, then you'll have the usual MMFF movies. Panday, Enteng Kabisote, Shake Rattle & Roll ( I wasn't even born the first time they made Shake Rattle & Roll -- though I did enjoy the first SRR movies), Ang Tanging Ina Mo. And they keep adding sequels to these movies, trying to spin-off every possible story they could squeeze from their brains. Panday meets Enteng. Enteng meets Tanging Ina Mo. I'm still wondering why they never thought of putting aliens in Panday -- now that would be interesting. Maybe not original, but originality rarely matters in MMFF.
But Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story is different. I thought it's interesting the first time I saw the posters but wasn't really thinking of watching it until my friends invited me to the movies. And I thank them for that.
"Doesn't this scream badass to you?"
Directed by: Tikoy Aquiluz
Cast: Jeorge Estregan, Carla Abellana, John Regala, Baron Geisler
In a gist, the movie is about the life of Asiong Salonga (well, duh?!) as the leader of a gang in Tondo (the most notorious district in Metro Manila). He was a young fella but was able to control parts of Tondo and kept other gangsters at bay, thus protecting the oppressed people of Tondo. Yep! Like Robin Hood!
Now MMFF is not the Oscars, as I told you. But Manila Kingpin is definitely a step up from the usual kitsch movies in mainstream media we have nowadays. Mind you, the movie is not utterly perfect and the flow of the story can be painfully all over the place at times. Then again, this is just the Producer's Cut (in which case, we have to see the Director's cut).
But the film has a lot of merits. One is the cinematography. There are a lot of beautiful stills and shots in the movie, which is worth an Academy Award if I may say so. The action scenes are just amazing to behold. Anyone would fall in love with them. I could rant about beautiful scenes in the movie, but then I'd just give away the whole story. My favorite is the shooting scene with the calesa (sorry I can't help myself, I just really love that scene).
The setting is also well-chosen. Cobble-stoned roads, old churches, old houses. It makes me want to visit Tondo for a while. For a moment, I forgot that Tondo is the kind of place where I can get stabbed the moment I step in there.
There are also good performances from the supporting characters. Okay, I don't really like Jeorge Estregan for the role. Let's see. He's not very likable for me. I hated watching him, especially his love scenes with the beautiful girls in the movie. They made me cringe really. They reminded me a lot of Danny Trejo kissing Lindsay Lohan/Jessica Alba/Michelle Rodriguez in Machete or Tommy Wiseau's sex scene in The Room .
"Eeek! My conscience wouldn't let me show the still for the sex scene"*
Other than that, it's kinda weird when it's revealed at the end that Asiong died at 27 as Jeorge Estregan doesn't look 27 at all.
Back to the supporting characters. Phillip Salvador's performance is really good in this movie, especially towards the end. Baron Geisler and Jay Manalo also carried out their roles really well. At one point in time, I wished Jay Manalo took the role of Asiong. As for the lead female role, we actually thought that Carla Abenally would be painfully awful. But, to our surprise, she did an amazing job!
However, my friends and I are still of the opinion that the film shows or maybe even venerates some nasty things. Misogyny, bending of laws, adultery, the its-ok-if-he-kills-people-as-long-as-he-gives-me-benefits-kind of mentality -- Asiong, then, seems like our typical politician. But then again, maybe that's how people think back in the 40s. Here's to people like me who are hoping to have stronger female characters in the Philippine mainstream cinema in the future.
In general, Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story is a Filipino movie worth seeing. I actually hope they would release the Director's Cut as all the crappy aspects (except for Jeorge Estregan), such as annoying and awkward scenes, would have probably been removed from the movie. So instead of being a movie for campy entertainment (which is usually what the mainstream is), this would actually be a great film. And hopefully, more directors and filmmakers would follow suit.
Anyway, this is also a call. WE WANT THE DIRECTOR'S CUT!
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