ABS-CBN Film Productions, Reality Entertainment, Star Cinema Productions,
Gerald Anderson, Joel Torre, Joey Marquez, Angel Aquino, Shaina Magdayao, Empress Schuck, Leo Martinez, Michael De Mesa, Vivian Velez, Rayver Cruz, Piolo Pascual
This gritty Filipino crime drama is the story of four men and their struggle to survive in their individual lives. Two are former prisoners who act as hired killers to wipe out the enemies of corrupt politicians, and the other two are law enforcement trying to enforce the law all the while being caught up in the web of corrupt politicians who will do anything to get what they want. This crime thriller is based on true events in the Philippines and is in Tagalog with English subtitles.
In the Philippines they basically make three movies. One is the romantic comedy or tragedy, usually with the poor girl who is swept off her feet by the rich boy. The second is the fantastic adventure films with superheroes that can fly, fight darkness, and so on. The third is the gritty crime thriller action type movie like this one. Basically there are action stars and romantic stars (and the comedy sidekicks and token gay guy thrown in). This is one of the few films that got released here on video in the mainstream, and it is actually a pretty strong film. A lot of the quickly ground out action movies are pretty silly, but this one has a deep and desperate story with a lot of twists and turns along the way. We fell the desperation from all the characters as they struggle to survive a hard life that has been thrust upon them. The action is really good, and the actors do a very good job. All in all, as an introduction to Philippine action movies, this is an excellent choice. If you don’t mind reading subtitles, and can deal with the hard core action and violence in a really good corruption story, then this will be an exciting and enlightening film that I think you would probably enjoy.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
