Cesar Montano's "Hitman" - Inferiorly Channeling Pen-ek Ratanaruang's "Headshot"

During a short, albeit relaxing getaway from work sometime November last year, I chanced upon Pen-ek Ratanaruang’s “Headshot” in Bangkok’s Lido Cinema. It ran alongside the Cannes’ winning apocalyptic drama, “Taking Shelter” and Julia Leigh’s surreal “Sleeping Beauty”. In the movie, Tul (Jayanama Nopachai), a hitman sustains a near fatal head wound that leaves him in a coma for 3 months. Fast forward to three months hence, Cesar Montano’s “Hitman” opens in local cinemas with dejavu’ish plot that had me thinking, “I know I’ve seen this before”. Unfortunately, that’s where comparison ends.

Ben Murillo (Cesar Montano) is sidetracked for years after miraculously surviving a gun shot in the head. Left for dead, Ben was comatose for 7 years, but he is gradually recovering. His memory has been spotty since then. One day, he meets Gina (Sam Pinto), a popular model who, unknown to Ben, is the daughter of Amando (Ricky Davao), a casuistic character who runs an illegal ring of activities that range from white slavery and drugs to gambling. At the very heart of this business is Tomas (Phillip Salvador), the head assassin. Tomas is tasked to eradicate any impediment, including Ben, a promising assassin under Tomas’ care. When Ben tells his superiors of his intention to retire and leave the group, the big boss decides to obliterate Ben.

Meanwhile, there is much internal strife within Amando’s “kingdom”. Tomas is demanding P10 million from Amando for an earlier deal they’ve supposedly agreed upon. But Amando is defiant. Moreover, the web of deceit reaches Alvin (Mark Herras), Amando’s much abused adopted son. When Amando’s other son Mike (Joko Diaz) gets killed in the crossfire, another set of henchmen have been tasked to take Gina who’s estranged from her father. But Gina fortuitously harbors an indecent stash of dirty money hidden somewhere so she conveniently becomes a target.

When Ben hooks up with flirty Gina, he gets thrown back into the same quagmire he once escaped from; the same people who had him assassinated. And this time, he has to protect her to his death. He once lost his pregnant wife to the same people. Never again!

Cesar Montano was always a competent actor. After his Seiko days, his career choices were note worthy. But "Hitman" is a baffling cinematic comeback. Despite his character being a former assassin - who should have a dark, brooding persona (after all, his pregnant wife died and slices of his memory have been staved off his consciousness) - but Montano's Ben is curiously chirpy and upbeat, posturing as though he runs with the hip and yuppy crowd! In fact, he even mutters cringe-worthy english phrases: "See you, guys!" This is how a hitman talks? There's more where that comes from, but we've noticed Montano's awkward penchant for intermittent Anglican lines (think: Piolo Pascual, Jericho Rosales, Diether Ocampo).

Posturing for effect works when you're relatively juvenile, but when you're pushing 50, such tack becomes gag-worthy! I suddenly remembered his "Bandila" interview with Boy Abunda where he would painfully dive into the Queen's tongue, forthwith stalling when he loses grip with the language. In the same interview, he lovingly refers to his mother as "his" - "his prayer", "his dream", "his intention". Bandila, as far as I know, is a news magazine show spoken in the vernacular. Ba't kasi ipinipilit ang 'di kaya, di ba? Speaking Tagalog is never a fault, and running around town to promote an action picture in fractured English can only do your promotion harm! I remember Montano's "Singing Bee" days where even pronunciation of the song's English titles are an afflictive; sheer agony! Desperation to speak the Queen's language should never be caught on camera! Do your practice behind the cam, lest you want your audience nauseating over your despondency!



Sam Pinto looks immaculately beautiful all throughout. Her early scenes look relaxed. She is, after all, portraying the role of a model - so how hard can that be? This is promising since in her past movies, she has always delivered mind-bogglingly flat characterizations. It's clear she needs to do something about her thespic acumen - or the lack of it. As the movie unravels to its hundred-and-one twists, we realize that Pinto is in dire need of help. In a scene where gun men break into her place, as Ben fights the hooded henchmen, Gina (Pinto) comes out of the bathroom looking awkward, not to mention oblivious to the gun shots heard all over the place. She tentatively calls: "Ben? Nasaan ka?" Yet all we witness is a blunt affect, an emotion-wanting facial expression if you will. She didn't look perturbed of the bullets flying around - or her appliances breaking and crashing down the floor. Yeah, forget those bullets! She needed Ben to dry her wet hot bod! Her stark cluelessness was a spectacle in itself. She personified blank emotionality where there should be fear, concern, and even histrionic demeanor!

AFTER THE ELABORATE EXPLANATION

This is repeated in a scene where Mark Herras, playing the avenging brother, delivers a 7-minute spiel about "taking charge" in front of sister Gina who's crying invisible tears. After the line, Herras declares: "Akin na ang kaharian n'yo!" Everyone understood what he was saying. I did! It was retribution and ambition coming into place. Then Pinto replies: "Ano ang ibig mong sabihin?" I almost fell off my chair! After a seven-minute explanation, she obviously didn't get a morsel of epiphany from Herras' confession? And it showed in Pinto's face! She was baffled to bits! Poor, poor girl!

Phillip Salvador does better as the head hitman Tomas who trained Ben. It was inevitable that the "teacher" and "student" would eventually dive into a scuffle. This was cinematic conjecture. After all, Salvador's mano-a-mano with Montano would convey gravitas - in an action showdown between the two formidable action-drama actors, each one as competent and iconic as the other! Unfortunately, the artistic choices for the staging of the climactic shootout comes off with an uneven and misguided strategem. Suddenly, Montano decides to infuse ill-advised humor, one-sided and flat as his leading lady's expression:

During the shootout, Ben would say: "Pinapakain pa ako ng alikabok ng matandang yun."

"Nakakatakbo pa ang matandang 'to eh may rayuma!"

"Ang daldal ng lolo ah."

"Akala ko tuhod lang ang mahina, pati pala mata!"

Yet all these lines were mere passing of gas where Tomas was concerned. In fact, he never acknowledged any of them. And there's something about badly delivered humor without a reciprocating audience, right? It drives the salient point that it's falling on deaf ears because it just isn't funny! How do you reconcile someone with a massacred family and a bullet in his skull delivering jovial lines as though he's in a sitcom?

This discrepancy of character is similarly evident in Phillip Salvador and Ricky Davao's characters where they play brothers. Phillip inconveniently calls Ricky "kuya"! Is anyone blind? Ricky maybe heavily built, but you can't deny Phillip's seniority where facial features are concerned. By at least a decade! His facial integument sags and his wrinkles abound!

Mark Herras looked alarmingly gaunt. It looked like a sea breeze could throw him down easily. He's cachectic and tuberculous. If he's gunning for the action genre, he would need to bulk up a bit - instead of looking like there's an on-going famine in the Philippines. In fact, I didn't realize it was Mark until the latter half of the film when he was finally given lines! When his character came out of his shell, he was emphatic, bearing pellucid motives. He understood where his character Alvin was coming from. That was good enough for me... as long as he doesn't use his brawn when there's none.

"Hitman" underlines a few of the reason why the action genre died a natural death. Like its predecessors, Director Montano's film is recklessly written, even incoherent in narrative structure. The story is derivative; the skill in film making unimpressive. Montano's action hero is an amalgam of characters that contradict with his past and present. In fact, you don't understand how he became as he has become. There's a palpable disproportion to the way he's depicted, making it easy not to empathize with him. Heck, I never even found myself sympathizing with Ben from start to finish. All I kept thinking was how he was able to enveigle Sam Pinto to do bath tub scenes and half a dozen of lip service with him! Inspiring eh?

As for mirroring Ratanaruang's vision, it's better if we forget this connection all together. Someone's bound to deplorably suffer in comparison.

Tul, a hitman, sustains a bullet wound in the head in Pen-ek Ratanaruang's "Headshot".


Pen-ek Ratanaruang's Headshot

Sam Pinto and Cesar Montano's constrained pairing. She speaks English, he speaks quack.

Cesar Montano postures like a yuppy action hero: "See you, guys!"

Panday 2 - Pedestrian Heroes in Oft Repeated Stories

After defeating an evil nemesis, Flavio (Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr.), the magic sword-bearing blacksmith, settles down with his would-be wife Maria (Iza Calzado), a fairy princess, in a small town where the former is hailed as a hero and demigod. But the prophetic Lolo Isko (Joonee Gamboa) foresees a troubling future for the hero: “Ang nakatakdang kadakilaan ay ipinapantay ng luha’t pighati.” Soon thereafter, they receive news that nearby towns are ravaged by fire and invasions. Could Lizardo (Philip Salvador) be alive?

SPOILERS!

The day before her wedding to Flavio, Maria gets kidnapped along with other women. Lizardo, who’s severely disfigured, is indeed alive, albeit with diminished powers. He requires the allure of an engkantada to regain his full strength and youthful vitality. That same night, Flavio gets his wish. While he gets rejuvenated, Maria transforms into an old woman (Rustica Carpio). Flavio, on the other hand, has organized his men to hoist a rescue. With the help of Bagwis, his pet dragon, Flavio charges recklessly, resulting in the death of most of his armada. His people turn against him. Meanwhile, he learns that Bagwis is female, and has morphed into a lovely warrior princess named Arlana (Marian Rivera), a prodigal daughter from the Ragona clan whose people could shift into dragons. Will the legendary blacksmith be able to defeat the energized Lizardo, and in the process, rescue his would-be wife?

In 2009, Rico Gutierrez and Mac Alejandre’s “Ang Panday” outgrossed all its competitors. Moreover, it won a stupendously generous stash of highly debatable awards including Best Actor (Bong Revilla), Best Supporting Actor (Phillip Salvador), Best Child Performer (Robert “Buboy” Villar), among others. It also bagged the Best Picture, a head-scratching feat for something of its artistic (de)merit. This year, it’s poised for bigger things.

Unfortunately, many seats at its second screening on opening day in Greenbelt 3 were vacant. Is this a barometer of the general public’s disappointment or disgust over the turn of events surrounding the death of Ramgen Revilla which highlighted the excesses of a political clan that people are supposed to emulate? Or are people just tired of this Carlo Caparas vehicle? Are people standing up against polygamy, murderous sibling rivalry, hired assassins, unregulated credit card use and clandestine domestic ministrations? Lovely way to paint the modern Filipino family, isn’t it?

But the numbers have surfaced (as of this writing) with “Enteng ng Ina Mo” grossing P91 million, while “Panday 2” churns up a measly P51 million; a far-cry from the first Panday’s box office finish. More than those unreliable figures, I was witness to the empty seats at the 2^nd screening of “Panday 2” while other titles enjoyed full house capacity on their pre-booked 2^nd to 5^th screenings (“Segunda Mano”). Either way, it is a cause for alarm for the senator and the Panday franchise.

Why are we harping on numbers? Because that's what this film is all about. Let’s face it, “Panday 2” isn’t in the realm of artistic and meritorious discourse, despite its coterie of gag-inducing awards in the past. Sometimes, the Filipino moviegoing public is happy with sugar-coated slop and kaning-baboy; thus the mainstream industry sees it fit to provide slop. Sinanay sa kaning baboy, then why else would people look for something else on their cinematic plate?

Now going back to the movie, writing a synopsis for “Panday 2” has got to be one of the hardest things I’d have to endure this season. It’s like painful abrasive scratches cutting through my sensibilities. Besides, isn't it clear that the film stands like a fan movie for GMA’s stable of talents? We see them don capes and body-hugging costumes where the most challenging endeavor they're tasked to do is look handsome or pretty; stand on the background with royal bearing, then get decimated by the advancing evil warriors. The story is peppered with needless characters that keep the narrative too busy to make a dent in the audience’s consciousness.

If Maria (Calzado) is an engkantada, why was she so helpless during her abduction? Couldn’t she summon her queen mother (Lucy Torres) for help? Did they actually forget that fairies are supposed to exhibit magical power? They should have asked Vic Sotto for tips about the fairyworld. And what was the loathsome witch Baruha’s (Lorna Tolentino) raison d’etre in the story? Did she do anything in the movie that merited her abominable presence? She would intermittently appear in her sinister meanderings, looking at a cauldron, and annotating as events unravel in Flavio’s life. She was expendable. If they took her out of the movie, it wouldn't have mattered. If she was Lizardo’s partner in crime, why were her inspired comments hurled against Lizardo (read and weep): “Ang laki mong pangit mo! Tanga kang Lizardo ka! Lagi kang nauutakan ni Flavio!” Yet Lizardo successfully ravaged the essence of the fairy princess. Should I underline this sense of disconnect?

Then there's Phillip Salvador returning as the opprobrious Lizardo, this time made up like a Joker wanna-be. He used to be one of the most competent actors in the business. He was a Brocka baby, an actor's actor. But in his advancing years, all that's left of his thespic gifts are his disproportionate and unfettered emotional dynamics. Remember "Baler" and KC Concepcion's "For The First Time"?

Benjie Paras (named Zanburo in the first Panday, then renamed Alulod in this chapter - make up your mind, guys) was given enough screen time to parlay his comic gifts but, let's face it, Paras' limited comic repertoire annoys more than amuses. Rhian Ramos returns as Emelita who has joined the "ambeks" - the "fish monsters". In her scene, she transforms into a sharp toothed ghoul, reminiscent of the tiyanaks. When most stars are given flattering parts (as princesses and valiant warriors), all they could bequeath to the embattled Ramos is that of a tiyanak-looking ogre? Such abortable star-making cameo, I should say. Poor girl. Mo Twister surely succeeded in his scorned-lover's vendetta.

Then there’s the Ragona Tribe headed by the illustrious King Daluyong and Queen Ibira (Eddie Garcia and Alice Dixson). This was a peace-loving race which could morph into fire-breathing dragons. Most of the GMA artists were hired to populate this tribe of dragons: Joshua Dionisio, Barbie Forteza, Bea Binene, Jake Vargas, Alden Richards and the lovely Kris Bernal who played Alira (Arlana’s sister). When they were invaded, they shifted to dragons yet were readily overwhelmed by Lizardo’s villains who were a third their size. I had to laugh in spite of myself. Defeat seems impossible when you have 1. Manpower, 2. The size (they’re dragons, for pete’s sake), 3. Flight, 4. Fire-breathing weapons, 5. Claws. Have you ever seen such helpless dragons? Only in the Philippines. They couldn’t even protect their queen and their princesses. What gives? Lizardo’s men only had swords. But this narrative strain may have been fabricated , regardless of how brainless it is, to make Flavio’s vengeance doubly sweeter, debah?

But when it was time for Flavio to face all these henchmen, all he had to do was swing his sword on air one single time, while popping gum balls from the sidelines; the sword was doing all the work, and that was that. Ho hum! Despite the “wisdom” of this sword to fight its own battle, we have a hero who lost his wife, and further lost the family of his Marimar-wanna be dancing dragonlady Arlana. How dependable can you get?

Envisioned as the local version of “The Lord of the Rings” and “Harry Potter”, its spectacle is lost in its vacuous drivel. Technology should help move a plot. Instead, the story takes the backseat to glorious computer-generated images. There was never a single moment of authentic emotion, thus it's a senseless endeavor to dispense empathy. In fact, Maria’s death felt uneventful. It came to pass without much fanfare when it should be one of its cinematic highlights.

Mac Alejandre’s “Panday 2” is supposed to deliver stuff of legends, yet all we have is a well choreographed passing of air. It has a middling storytelling acumen replete with vignettes of ideas not fully realized. It has a protagonist with legendary might, and an equally bulging tummy. It's a growing conundrum. What have our action heroes become? Heaven help us.

Marian Rivera is Arlana who was Flavio's dragon Bagwis before Maria bit the bullet. Heroes need dainty damsels too.









Lorna Tolentino plays evil witch Baruha who does nothing but laugh the whole movie through. Her nonsensical presence is impudently underlined by the blatant fact that there was nothing vaguely funny to merit her laughters. Schizophrenia, perhaps?





Impressive CGI's, vacuous drivel.