Gandarrappido: The Revenger Squad Movie Review

December is that one time of the year where Metro Manila Film Festival rolls in and eight of the best Philippine made movies vie for supremacy. Its  kind of the Philippines version of the Oscars. Of all the eight Id choose to watch Gandarrappido: The Revenger Squad, simply because its a comedy. I can easily just watch a horror and feel scared or watch a drama and feeling emotional, but Id rather go out of a movie theater laughing. Besides Im a sucker for Superhero movies.

Gandarrappido: The Revenger Squad is an action comedy superhero film from the Phiulippines that is directed by Joyce Bernal and starred by Daniel Padilla, Vice Ganda and Pia Wurtzbach.

Gandarrappido: The Revenger is a story about Emerson "Emy" Mariposque also known as Emy. A low-cost makeup reseller and cleaning rag maker who lives in a decrepit house with his brother, Chino. He suffered from a loss memory after being involved in a "great battle" among super beings which took place years before the main story line of the film began. Before he loss his memory, he is a superhero named Gandarra who draws power from a bertud or artifact in a form of a lipstick which he later applies on himself to transform to his alter-ego. Gandarra's signature weapon is a Lipstick Spear.

On a visual stand point this movie wont be the next superhero contender but there are certain scenes with very impressive cgi rendering. Its not perfect cgi rendering but its enough of a visual eye candy to make casual moviegoers to go wow over. Costume design ranges from decent to downright outrageous which I think is what the producers of the film was going for. Some are obviously rip off of other existing characters in anime, game and movies. Gandarras outfit was admitted to be inspired by the game Everwing and Sailormoon respectively. When you see how Gandarra transform in the film you will know what I mean.

Judging by the laughs that I heard from the audiences from the movie theater a lot of the jokes landed and thats a good thing. Sadly some of the jokes are already shown in the trailer so I find them less funny when seen a second time. I had a good laugh though when they tried to spoof their own past movies in the film and make fun of certain existing television shows and characters both locally and international. This movie also have celebrity cameos as well and even a moral lesson about the value of family, never giving up despite the odds and importance of laughter in our lives. Something rarely found in local films these days.

Aside from Emy/Gandarra and Chino/Rappido, the other characters take a backseat in the film and is relegated as comic relief or filler characters. Sadly even Pia's character Queenie which is supposed to be one of the main persona in the film doesnt stand out much since a lot of her lines are badly executed due to her difficulty in Pilipino. Im not sure if they intended this or not but I think having her speak in English or native German would be a plus. The movie makes use of English subtitles already so I think the audiences wont have a problem understanding her if they did that.

The movie makes use of a lot of slap stick comedy and makes fun of superheroes going as far as making fun of a characters fat appearance or some other physical flaw. Much like watching Charlie Chaplin the Tramp and the Three Stoogies. Sad a few of the jokes went pass me as I found them cringe worthy or over the top. But thats a minor flaw. The wirework needed some work since a lot of the flying sequence and the air to air fights are outdated and I feel like Im watching an 80's local superhero movie.

The bad wirework is obvious right from the very first superhero fight in the film. When the characters are floating or fighting in the air or doing flips you can really tell they are suspended by wires just by the way how stiff they move. Then again this was a comedy not the next local version of the Avengers or Justice League.

The narrative feels somewhat rushed in some areas specially on Queenie's character as she switches sides. Its a decent film with enough jokes to keep everyone entertained with very little flaws to speak up with. Its still a good movie if you want to have a good time and just have a laugh with your family and friends.