The
second half of 2011 is proving to be great for Philippine Cinema. I mean there are two Eugene Domingo movies playing in Trinoma on the same week! And before that, Trinoma was screening Ang Babae sa Septic Tank!
I
think for a Pinoy movie to be successful, Eugene Domingo must be included in
some way!
With
that said, Zombadings 1: Patayin sa
Shokot si Remington has been buzzing since early this year. With that name,
how can you not? The name is as catchy as Ang Babae sa Septic Tank. Definitely
who ever thought of that name just made the movie unforgettable. The glaring
reviews it got when it was shown in various film festivals also gave the film
notoriety.
The
Story:
Barely
getting out from his diapers, the young Remington was such a potty mouth. In
the opening part of the movie, he was insulting the third sex. One visit in the
cemetery was enough for him to shut up though. But little did he know that the
name calling he was belting would curse him for a lifetime.
Days
before his 21st birthday, a series of deaths occur in his hometown of Lukban, Quezon. These deaths had a
common denominator – gays. At the same time, a mystical brute gay demon was
little by little replacing his manliness with gayness.
The
timing of this mess is a travesty since Remington may have found the girl of
his dreams.
*** SPOILER ALERT
***
The
Good:
Martin “Don’t call me Mart
Escudero” Escudero
proved that while fellow Starstruck alum
Aljur Abrenica had the body gays like, Martin had the acting talent they
drool upon. Martin carried the film and he did it well. The gay acting wasn’t
forced. The reactions he had were awesome and his rapport with the ensemble
proved helpful in making the film believable.
One of
the best parts of the film was kind of disturbing... for men. However the
kissing scene Remington and Jigs did in the flick was kind of fun to watch. It
was kind of almost resembled the Between
Two Ferns episode where Zach
Galifianakis kissed a lot of Will
Ferrell. It was painful to watch but you had to look (nay need) at it
because it was so funny! The other scene I liked was when Remington danced the
crap of a techno song where graphics were hurled left and right. And finally
the speech that Remington had with Eugene Domingo and Lauren Young (the first time he talked in straight gay lingo) was
also a bright spot.
Roderick Paulate and Eugene are a class on
their own. Roderick cursing was funny while Eugune letting her actions talk was
superb as well. The movie gained semblance way before its release because of
these two. Janice de Belen’s
character’s light seriousness made her character stand out without overacting
while her sidekick played by Angelica
Canapi brought in the humor for her. Lauren
Young charmed the audiences while Kerbie
Zamora made a nice account of himself as the “Ron Weasley” of this gay serial killer-busting trio.
Yes, I
compared the Martin-Lauren-Kerbie combination with the Harry Potter kids.
And
then there’s John Regala. If you
look at him, the last thing he’ll ever be is to be included in this movie – let
alone play a good guy in it. But you know what, he did well here.
Bayani Agbayani and Marian Rivera also delivered in their very short roles (Bat ambango
mo... amoy tae...) while Odette Khan, Remington’s
family’s maid, Leandro Baldemor, and Daniel
Fernando also did well. Hell, even Remington’s friends that looked green in
the acting department also provided great comedy work here.
By the
way, is gay sex running rampant in Lukban, Quezon?
So the
ensemble is nice and so is 80 percent of the movie. The movie had a conscious
effort in gay acceptance and while it had too many gay sexuality moments that
made me hold my girlfriend’s hand tighter and firmer (ang kyut-kyut ng mga abs
nila!!!), it manages in succeeding to place no disrespect on the third sex.
Also,
the build up for the climax was well created. I loved every part of the movie
(although I loved the movie less in the end) and it was easy for people,
whatever their sexual orientation, to laugh at the gags. The step-by-step
process that led to Remington’s transformation didn’t look corny and it gave
the Remington character more substance. It helped a lot that Martin Escudero
carried himself well in this movie because the fame and acclaim he got here will
certainly help his career.
With
that said...
The
Bad:
Unfortunately
for Zombadings, it was easy to spot what’s bad in this movie. I could nitpick a
lot of things like who was Lauren Young’s dad in the story that made him get
angry at Remington at the start of the movie, why did the reveal of Daniel
Fernando gay-bashing persona not that hyped, why is the gaydar gun like a bunch
of hamster exercise contraptions glued together, and why is Marian Rivera’s
scene not that meaty.
But my
main problem was this.
The
climax.
After
Roderick’s character’s death, his boy toy chanted something that made all dead
gays become zombies. This should have been the glorious part of the movie after
a wonderful build up but this is the problem of tight-budgeted indie movies. Just
like Amigo, the big scene here isn’t big enough. I mean they could have devoted
more time in establishing the zombies other than the comic relief that at this
point, isn’t as funny as the earlier gags. All of a sudden, Remington’s gang of
gay-loving friends were MIA. They could have had some of them of die so that
plot won’t get detached. The scene where John Regala and his friends
encountered the zombies could have been made bigger as well. Maybe it was time
for these guys to have their machismo flourish since they will lose this
eventually. This is where a fight coordinator or a stunt coordinator could have
been helpful. Imagine John Regala doing those Jeric Raval-like fight scenes on those zombies. I would rather have
John Regala and his cronies have a FPJ-like moment than Odette Khan because the
scene Khan had was so random. I would have used Khan in the post-Zombie attack
where there are more press people than point persons (after all, people died Lukban
could have been easily placed on red alert). The graphics that was seen in
Remington’s earlier dance could have been useful as well. Maybe when the
zombies walk, a bunch of creepy graphics would pop up. Since the zombie scene
was staged at the time of the Pahiyas
Festival, I would have loved it if the non-sitio/barangay hall places had
more bandaritas or fiesta stuffs and if there were more people in those fiesta
scenes.
And
the biggest beef on that chunk was after all the bigness of Remington’s
transformation all he had to do is have a willing man hold his hands to
transfer his gayness. Holding hands? Really? It would have been harder for John
Regala to smack his son on the lips. Not that I want to see it, but like I
said, with the way it was built up, they need to make the climax grand.
The
Verdict:
But
like I said, this film is very enjoyable movie. If I can compare this to a
foreign film I watched, then I see it as a cross between Shaun of the Dead and Superbad.
Hopefully there’s a part 2 because I think a movie like this can be a tool for
Philippine Cinema to battle against the foreign flicks. For months now, people
have been wasting their money to watch 3D version of very, very crappy flicks.
Zombadings is a refreshing twist to those overrated and underwhelming films.
Game
over!
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