Step Up Guy
KUBOT: THE ASWANG CHRONICLES (a few spoilers!!!) is rollicking fun, and outright silly. But you knew that with Joey Marquez, Jun Sabayton, Ramon Bautista and Bogart the Explorer in the cast. Erik Matti's sequel to his groundbreaking TIKTIK CHRONICLES (2012), which boasted of different special effects never before seen, finds Makoy on a rickety jeepney ride with his wife Sonia and baby in tow. They encounter Veron (Elizabeth Oropesa) and her hag sidekicks, with truly frightening hairdos, and goes right out and eats Makoy's wife and walks away with the baby (all this time, Makoy's right hand is pinned in the overturned vehicle). Two years later, Makoy, grieving for his dead wife and baby, jaded and tired of it all (he had to slay innumerable ghouls in the first movie), settles in with his sister Nieves (Lotlot de Leon) and Nestor (Joey Marquez). However, when an upstart, Dom (KC Montero) invades the city with his horde of ghouls, infecting humans through contaminated hotdogs (yes, hotdogs), Nestor and Nieves urge Makoy, who now sports a gadget- laden mechanical right arm, to stand up and fight, if only to avenge the death of his family. With returning cast members Ramon Bautista (as Bart) and Marquez, KUBOT: THE ASWANG CHRONICLES, benefits from the addition of new cast members Oropesa, Isabelle Diaz Daza (as a "closet" aswang/lady doctor), and gamely surprises the audience with thrills, scares, and funny characters. The great special effects are moodily photographed by Shing Fung Cheung, while the music of Erwin Romulo jars the senses (sometimes it sounds like technoremix, sometimes like Argentine tango) and prods the story along. Lotlot de Leon won as Best Supporting Actress in the MMFF derby -- but how good her performance here is a matter of opinion, for from her first scene to the last, she camps it up with relish (and high camp/outright silliness shouldn't nab acting awards for any artist). Sometimes you feel you want her character to be killed off, but hey, she already did that in FENG SHUI (2004). Nevertheless, de Leon's busybody character is likable, funny, comical, and some rather witty lines are delivered by de Leon with panache. Diaz Daza proves she's no lightweight in the acting department, except for a bizarre, grimace-inducing scene when she and Dingdong Dantes are cornered by a horde of ghouls. From a roller-coaster ride of dazzling special effects, comedic touches and real thrills, the film degenerates into high camp and corn, like a beautiful but tawdry ship running aground. Even child stars Alonzo Muhlach and Mona Louise Rey have token appearances as aswang children, and this early they're seemingly taught to ham it up. Emerging unscathed from it all is Ms Elizabeth Oropesa, who, with very good makeup, is chilling and menacing as a queen ghoul who seeks revenge on Makoy. Young musical stars Julie Anne San Jose and Abra, providing James Bond gadgetry for Makoy, have almost thankless roles, but Ms Rina Reyes, sexy star of the late 1980s-1990s and granddaughter of movie queen Paraluman, is a welcome sight as a good Samaritan. Issa Litton, Dido de la Paz, Pao Gamboa and Nicco Manalo appear in solid supporting roles. For his part, Dingdong Dantes, aping some mannerisms from certain Tom Cruise/Keanu Reeves action movies, acts bored in his first few scenes. He only jacks everything up by the climactic showdown, and even then, everything else is swallowed by the humongous special effects already. KUBOT: THE ASWANG CHRONICLES, directed by Erik Matti, feels like a Filipino version of a Hollywood summer blockbuster with the title, say, TRANSFORMERS (directed by Michael Bay in 2007) -- all razzle dazzle but can't be scrutinized closely. Let's wait and see if Matti (who apprenticed under Peque Gallaga and has made sharp films like DOS EKIS (2001), PROSTI (2002), and PA-SIYAM (2004) and the fantastic indie sleeper hit/multiawarded film last year, ON THE JOB), and Dantes can come up with something new for the Part Three -- given that Marian Rivera makes a delicious cameo appearance at film's end. So far, among the eight MMFF movies, this ranks high up there with the BONIFACIO/Robin Padilla and the George Estregan Jr movies.
Dudung Meng
Well...as the supposed sequel to Boy Bawang--I mean, Tiktik(2012) Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles takes place right after the previous installment left off. It started on a high note and unbelievably shows promise, I expected a campy, silly and riddled with products placements B-Movie...but sadly, it ends when Dingdong Dantes screams for vengeance as it fades away together with my pocket money.The plot never gone on its way, it stops right at the first 10 mins of the film and from there it's like short clips put together with duct tape and staples. Plot points just keep popping out of nowhere, bombarding the audience with much information about its backstory but never really establishing on any of it. What was the point of this? of that? who knows, its there because it is.The Actors did a good job portraying their roles, with Elizabeth Oropesa (Veron) and Lotlot De Leon (Nieves) being the most memorable and notable characters in the film.you can't say much about this movie because there is nothing to say about it, unlike Tiktik(2012) which you had the Dark, violent and silly atmosphere topped with a very simple plot line and had fun in the process, Kubot left me feeling empty. It lost its charm and novelty due to lazy writing and a premise that seems to go nowhere, leaving the most obvious issues left unresolved. though in its defense, it is self-aware of its own failure.There are some scenes that will make you laugh and forget how bad this movie is for a moment and realize you're in denial and pretend to have fun. The campiness, gore, and humor is still there, cheap laughs and wasted potential is all what you will get but with no coherent bond to put it all together its a sad excuse for a movie.3 Man-meat Dogs out of 10
3xHCCH
"Kubot" starts exactly where "Tiktik" left off, after Makoy (Dingdong Dantes) and company killed off the Aswang leader and decimated most of his minions. While trying to escape Pulupandan in a bus, they were ambushed by a group of Kubot, led by Veron (Elizabeth Oropesa). These are a variety of female aswang with long, thick mass of powerful hair that they can will to do their commands. Makoy loses his right arm and much more in that unfortunate encounter that caused him to be in a constant mood for revenge.Jump to two years later, Makoy is staying in with his nosy sister Nieves (Lotlot de Leon) in Manila. She works as a secretary for an OB-Gyne, Dr. Alessandra Baldivia (Isabelle Daza), whom she suspects to be an abortionist. It turns out that the doctor's mysterious nightly appointments were of a totally different, supernatural nature. Meanwhile, a Balikbayan aswang Dominic (KC Montero) is going against aswang conventions by seeking to turn humans into aswang by feeding them very tasty hotdogs made from human meat. When a plot to spread this deadly hotdog in a huge political gathering was uncovered, Makoy had to accept unexpected assistance to prevent this potential aswang epidemic from happening.Dingdong Dantes cuts a very fine form as a brash action hero, very believable. This actor is a very natural and charismatic leading man, even if he takes on arrogant character like Makoy. Joey Marquez is consistent in his sidekick characterization of Nestor from the last film to this one. Isabelle Daza is an icy, classy beauty as we always knew her, but she has an awkward dancing scene that is so pleasantly out-of- character for her, it is delightful. Elizabeth Oropesa and KC Montero are convincing as sinister monsters. Standing out from among the supporting characters is Lotlot de Leon in a bold, loud and fun characterization of Nieves. Her memorable brazen declaration of her bravery received a round of applause and laughter from the audience. Also stealing scenes is Ramon Bautista, playing a totally different character in this one, after his previous character Bart died in the first film. Bautista's pairing with Bogart the Explorer as the wacky cop tandem of Justiniani and Macapagal was hilariously annoying even if it took some time away from the main story.Director Erik Matti successfully maintains the elements that made the first film the success it was. He incorporated more elaborately choreographed wire-work stunts and imaginative visual effects for this sequel. That scene of the kubot Veron sucking someone's life force out and that scene with Dominic eating crows were absolutely exceptional in their execution! Aside from the gore factor, the comedy factor were upped more, which made this one more entertaining. The concept of aswang having a council of elders and alliances were reminiscent of "Twilight", but this was integrated very well into the local context of this story. The surprise appearance of a beautiful aswang royalty at the end promises another installment to look forward to next time. 8/10.
