Maria (2019) Reviews

• A Philippine remake of Kill Bill

  FrenchEddieFelson2019-05-17

  In the USA, they have John Wick, Jack Reacher, Jason Bourne, Frank Castle, Christian Wolff, Robert McCall, Bryan Mills, ... as a non exhaustive list ... Now, in the Philippines, they have Maria. She might be considered as Beatrix Kiddo's little sister, with a karambit instead of a katana, and Kaleb instead of Bill. They are both a female assassin. They both seek for revenge, no matter what. Violent as one pleases and rather successful thanks to P1) a furious rhythm and P2) effective combat scenes, despite C1) a torture scene as showy as useless, just for the 'fun', C2) an excess of characters so pathetically ridiculous that they become hilarious, especially Kaleb and Victor, and C3) an excessive internationalization with manifold unexpected and inappropriate American dialogues distorting the Philippine spirit. As a synthesis, it's worth a try, with low expectations.

• Please shoot me in the face.

  shortecrx2019-05-18

  It takes a lot for me to quit a movie. AND even more for me to write any kind of review. This one did it. I guess I made it about a quarter to a third through it. The dialog was atrocious, the torture scenes were pointless and overly gruesome. And why do they mix languages non-stop? Like in the same sentence! You've been warned.

• Less than average action flick

  gregerp2019-05-17

  Do not get fooled by the high ratings. It´s a below-average action film with below-average actors. A very well known, no surprise one-dimensional storyline about revenge. No surprises at all.

• Were getting there Philippines.

  ribaxd2019-03-27

  I enjoyed this movie, for a long time I am waiting for a enjoyable Filipino Action Movie without being cringy. The Actors and Actresses did a amazing job in this movie. I'm glad that Filipino Action Movies are once again being made. However, In this Movie I have some minor complaints and some major complaints in this movie. First the minor complaints is the usage of the english dialogue sometimes doesn't fit a specific scene or comes up unnecessary since this is still a Filipino Movie and Filipino language is still needed on some portions to make them sound convincing. Now the Major complaints, The Lighting and The Camera angles of the Hand-to-Hand action scenes. There is no shaky cam and the choreography is there but the usage of zooming the camera too much and excessive cutting should be removed in the future (Its a common Filipino Camera angle trope especially in Telenovelas), I need wider and brighter shots to see the whole fight blow to blow and kick by kick. A good example is Netflix's Daredevil and the Indonesian Action Films they use wide shots to capture every moment, The camera doesn't cut too much but instead they follow the character based on their movements. The Gunfights are acceptable since they know how to use the gunfights accordingly with the direction of the shooter and the targets are well shot but then again the dark scenery and lack of lighting causes this movies too be way too dark and I cannot see the fights well enough. Overall, despite my complaints I appreciate the makers of this movie and hopefully you understand my complaints about it. Its not the best story and definitely not the best action film in the whole Filipino Cinema but in my opinion its currently one of the best we have "Now" take this complaints as a advice to help you in future projects. I rate this movie 6/10 I could have given the movie a higher score but with the lack of wide shots and the lighting of this movie drags the action scenes for me. Don't worry Philippines the action movies you've been asking will come in fruition soon it will be a long road but we will get there!

• A Filipino movie that will entertain an international audience

  amfurooghi2019-04-02

  A female-assassin-revenge type film? Yes. There are a LOT of those out there in recent years but what is the icing on the cake? the cherry on top? It's the FMA. The BEST display and modern use of FMA (Filipino-Martial-Arts) to date!...also with with the action scenes shot cleaner than most with a similar genre. The story is obviously dense but not complex enough that it is hard to follow.