plsletitrain
Member: Rank 5
Okay I may be inviting trouble here but what the heck. I hate to use the term, but OVERRATED may very well apply in this case. Where have all those positive reviews and ratings go? Because I may have seen an entirely different movie.
The movie looked just like a 2-hour compilation of all the fight scenes and gunshots we’ve seen in the movies. Just that. There’s no story. Or maybe I was expecting a docu? Then again, the director, Erik Matti, made it clear this is not his “statement” film. So what went wrong? I think Matti capitalized on the fight scenes to the point that he lost the essence of it. This is entitled “Buybust” after all, a flagship project of the current administration—so it feels underwhelming to just see Anne and her team kick here, shoot there. Blood here, screams there. Is there more? I’m afraid there’s none.
Now before I get criticized for the “there’s no story” remark. Here it is. You judge for yourself if this is considered a “story”. Manigan (Anne Curtis) is part of an anti-drug team tasked with catching a big fish named Biggie Chen. They embark on an entrapment operation with the help of their intel asset. Biggie Chen plays safe, so he invites the asset to transact on his village, a slum area in Manila. The area literally looks like a maze, and once inside, its hard to find your way out. Soon, the team figured that they were set-up, and they struggle to survive and come out of the maze alive.
I find it hard to engage in a movie where the lead/s feel like IMMORTAL/S that just won’t die dammit! Its one thing if you’re superman, but I thought we’re mirroring Philippine society here with this theme? In here, you’ll see Anne Curtis battle it out with two groups: 1) The drug syndicate (complete with ammunitions) and 2) the zombie-like crowd who has had it all and wants nothing to do with the drug war. She battles with them AT THE SAME TIME. And she’s injured and she’s got no ammunitions. And she’s not familiar with the place! You’ll start seeing me
there. Unless this is comedy. There’s just quite so many plotholes that defies reality and common practice here.
There’s no strong message in here. Unless you count the few minutes in the ending where it was insinuated that both the druglords and the police are casualties here: only the politicians benefit in this drugwar. Or when the favorite excuse when justifying killing drug suspects—they “nanlaban (fought back)”--was used. Other than that, this is just really a work of fiction.
The fight scenes execution were okay. There’s too much gunshots here that I think I may have gone deaf in the theater. It also didn’t help that the illumination (because the entrapment operation was scheduled to start at 8:00 PM and ended in the early dawn) was dark and it was raining (because of course, it always rains when you want a bloody violence to ensue—it just helps with the dramatic effect) and so it was hard to make of on who’s fighting who.
If there’s any positive aspect of the film, it is (and only this) the music. The music here went far lengths, and it was the only redeeming factor here. I can’t find the OST on youtube but if you’ve seen the film, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Too bad it was only the music that I liked here.
I’m sorry @clayton-12. I tried man. I think if you’ll watch this, you’ll understand where I’m coming from. This is definitely not Erik Matti’s statement film (Ma ‘Rosa was much better—Lav’s Panahon ng Halimaw is the best so far). It anchors on the fiction side of movies but fails on it either. :(
The movie looked just like a 2-hour compilation of all the fight scenes and gunshots we’ve seen in the movies. Just that. There’s no story. Or maybe I was expecting a docu? Then again, the director, Erik Matti, made it clear this is not his “statement” film. So what went wrong? I think Matti capitalized on the fight scenes to the point that he lost the essence of it. This is entitled “Buybust” after all, a flagship project of the current administration—so it feels underwhelming to just see Anne and her team kick here, shoot there. Blood here, screams there. Is there more? I’m afraid there’s none.
Now before I get criticized for the “there’s no story” remark. Here it is. You judge for yourself if this is considered a “story”. Manigan (Anne Curtis) is part of an anti-drug team tasked with catching a big fish named Biggie Chen. They embark on an entrapment operation with the help of their intel asset. Biggie Chen plays safe, so he invites the asset to transact on his village, a slum area in Manila. The area literally looks like a maze, and once inside, its hard to find your way out. Soon, the team figured that they were set-up, and they struggle to survive and come out of the maze alive.
I find it hard to engage in a movie where the lead/s feel like IMMORTAL/S that just won’t die dammit! Its one thing if you’re superman, but I thought we’re mirroring Philippine society here with this theme? In here, you’ll see Anne Curtis battle it out with two groups: 1) The drug syndicate (complete with ammunitions) and 2) the zombie-like crowd who has had it all and wants nothing to do with the drug war. She battles with them AT THE SAME TIME. And she’s injured and she’s got no ammunitions. And she’s not familiar with the place! You’ll start seeing me
there. Unless this is comedy. There’s just quite so many plotholes that defies reality and common practice here.There’s no strong message in here. Unless you count the few minutes in the ending where it was insinuated that both the druglords and the police are casualties here: only the politicians benefit in this drugwar. Or when the favorite excuse when justifying killing drug suspects—they “nanlaban (fought back)”--was used. Other than that, this is just really a work of fiction.
The fight scenes execution were okay. There’s too much gunshots here that I think I may have gone deaf in the theater. It also didn’t help that the illumination (because the entrapment operation was scheduled to start at 8:00 PM and ended in the early dawn) was dark and it was raining (because of course, it always rains when you want a bloody violence to ensue—it just helps with the dramatic effect) and so it was hard to make of on who’s fighting who.
If there’s any positive aspect of the film, it is (and only this) the music. The music here went far lengths, and it was the only redeeming factor here. I can’t find the OST on youtube but if you’ve seen the film, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Too bad it was only the music that I liked here.
I’m sorry @clayton-12. I tried man. I think if you’ll watch this, you’ll understand where I’m coming from. This is definitely not Erik Matti’s statement film (Ma ‘Rosa was much better—Lav’s Panahon ng Halimaw is the best so far). It anchors on the fiction side of movies but fails on it either. :(
