Heneral Luna (2015)

I've been waiting for years for a Filipino Film Director to create a world class hit. Worthy of the best top choices in the industry and this would be the firs time that I would praise someone within the contemporary list of local Pinoy Films. I mean, don't get me wrong. There are a lot of talented film makers in the country but, some of them would either shy away from the challenge, give up and fail at the end only to submit to the mainstream. This one however, made it to the best and has indeed conquered the challenge. The Film at some points may still not be historically accurate, in time will still have continues updates, however, this has proved to be one of the best researched, scenic based movie that you will ever find through recent years. Acting, Directing, Cinematography all way up to the top. Humor and Ambiance of the film were indeed almost close to perfection. I commend the scenes where they did not have to hide the brutality of how the mad general died, and the scenes where his men were blown to pieces for their ignorance in battle. A true Historical Film that was both TIMELY and well written. Kudos to this Film and I look forward to more projects to come.

The notorious, bad-ass, and famous Gen. Antonio Luna was portrayed in the big screen that will make each Pilipino proud. This was one of the most outstanding performance for all of the actors involving in this film, well directed by Jerrold Tarog, and the cinematography and set pieces were jaw-dropping. The creativity and style in the part of the film where Gen. Luna closed his eyes while talking with his mother and reminisced the past days with their family and the past events that occurred in their lives and the people around them was astonishing.BOTTOM LINE: Are you tired of watching Pinoy Movies (mostly) with lazy writing and predictable plot that focuses majority in Romance, Comedy, Romance (did I say Romance twice?)? Here is the movie that we can all be proud to say, this is how the movie should be done and treated (with CREATIVITY, WELL THOUGHT, WELL DIRECTED).

Heneral Luna is one of those rare Filipino films that's entertaining and keeps you on the edge of your seat. The film is based on the titular national hero Antonio Luna a Filipino general who believes he can turn the tide of war against in the invading Americans back then. He was also known for his temperamental yet tough love attitude towards his incompetent soldiers and political rivals.John Arcilla was spot on to play this role, and so does Mon Confiado as the Philippine president Emilio Aguinaldo. Little is his screen time but when you see him, you see that he's calm yet you feel that there's something fishy going on with him. While we may credit him as the father of Philippine Independence and Republic, he's not without flaws. And with the execution of Andres Bonifacio associated with him and Luna, history has become not been very kind with him.But that's history, sometimes you have to take some serious choices to make a difference, even if it's not the popular one. And both men made their own choices, as Harvey Dent once said: "Either you die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." and yes Luna died a hero and Aguinaldo and his conspirators lived with stained reputations till the end.

Words cannot describe my satisfaction with this film and the only way to review it is through personal experience. There are pacing problems and disappointments in terms of the props such as the weaponry used by both sides, but given the film's tight budget, it has managed to portray these battle scenes with epic proportions combined with the score being obviously inspired by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. The atmosphere of the entire film is portrayed beautifully, it shows the political machinations and political infighting when the battle scenes are not present, for the entire point of view is based upon Luna and his allies. Still, if you are either a history buff or just an average movie goer, this film is spectacular and it deserves to be one the best films of the year if there are any formal awards as such.