Film Review - Exodus

An epic of Pinoy special effects
By: Rianne Hill Soriano

Starring: Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr., Aubrey Miles, Ramon Revilla Sr., Ram Revilla, Brian Revilla, Jolo Revilla, BJ "Tolits" Forbes, Benjie Paras, Iya Villania, Phoemela Barranda, Paolo Bediones, Long Mejia and Jay-R Directed by: Erik Matti

Exodus is a fantasy epic with really impressive visual and sound effects for a Filipino film. A collaboration of impressive CGIs, excellent cinematography, elaborate costumes and make-up, grand production design, and commendable sound design, this fantasy-adventure story gives a jaw-dropping look and feel. It tries to cover up the weaknesses on the script and acting.

This film’s special effects is considerably top-of-the-line for a Pinoy movie. The remarkable visuals, set designs and costumes are pegged from the Hollywood epic and video game look: Lin Ay’s (Iya Villania) fight scene with the rocks; Bangkila’s (Aubrey Miles) flying scenes; Alas’ (Long Mejia) cards; Silab’s (Tolits Forbes) fireballs; the floating keys in one of the caves; Exodus’ (Bong Revilla) and Bagulbol’s (Jay-R) final duel; and the LOTR-inspired battle scene. Most of the shots in chroma look clean and untainted. It is backed up with genuine colorgrading that makes the effects look so real. The somewhat desaturated and semi-sepia look of selected scenes makes a mark for Erik Matti as it has also been seen in his other fantasy-adventure film Pedro Penduko. The visual power created by this movie is not within the caliber of films meant for an Oscar for special effects, but this advancement is a good kick-off for the local film industry. The Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound provides ample support to make this film in par with that of Hollywood’s. It is good that such a film also tries to give importance and sufficient time and budget with the sound elements as it attempts to utilize good stingers and various musical instruments to maximize its Dolby Surround Sound. The musical score may not be most exceptional, but the effort still pays off – with its great contribution to the visuals.

There is good art direction. The exotic locations provide a feast to the eyes. The cinematography complements all these. The shots seem studied well. There are a number of good establishing shots – and it is very much commendable to mention the intricately presented underground refuge of the people of Bantayan. This design promotes a good space for aesthetic shots and builds a kind of a claustrophobic feeling for the viewers to empathize with the characters. It tries to visually narrate what is happening to the characters without too much blabbers and wasted footages. With such style and treatment, I somehow remember a resemblance in a scene from the Thai film Ong-Bak – the opening scene where the main character trains and fights with countless warriors in a huge tree. Bagulbol’s masks are artistically made. It somehow reminds me of the utilization of masks on Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut.

Still, it has weaknesses. During the final fight scene of Exodus and Haring Bagulbol, the too gleaming illumination resembling that of lightning or disco lights that alternates every half a second creates too much contrast with the dark surroundings. With all honesty, it has made me come to the point of putting on my shades to avoid the too fierce light that hurts my eyes. With this, I tend to lose contact with what’s shown in the big screen. Moreover, there are some shots that are too choppy – like Bangkila’s fight scenes in chroma. They generally look genuine, but there are too much fast cuts that make me think of the possibility of making a safe escape from looking fake. But if that’s the case, they should have balanced the validity of the special effects and the editing. Too much fast cuts don’t get to provide rest for the eyes of the audience. The cords in Silab’s shots in chroma may not be actually seen. But at some point, a part of his yellow costume (the one behind him, near his nape) looks lumpy – this may probably be caused by the harness attached to his body. Erasing this could have saved the scene from such boo-boo. Also, Silab’s movements are not refined enough while he is above the ground or a body of water. To the keen-eyed, he seems floating in mid air in a harness really – especially the movement of his arms and feet – with the strings just carefully erased. Also, at some point, he seems to be balancing from the harness while in the middle of a fight. I know it’s tough for a little boy in full make-up and costume to keep up with such action scenes; but this is not an excuse for making such scenes one of the movie’s weak points. Another blunder is seen during the opening scene at Enchanted Kingdom. Though the small wizard talking inside the theater seems cool and entertaining, what ruins the scene is when the kids watching him seems to be staring blandly in mid air and not looking at him at all. There are some particular shots where the camera is tracking from one side showing the faces of the children with each of them staring in front of their seats, and therefore, staring at different places. Supposedly, they are amazingly staring at the wizard shown in front of the camera right before them. But since the wizard is obviously a computer-generated image and is not present during the filming of this scene with the children, they haven’t been properly instructed to look at a particular spot only in order to make the presence of the wizard in the final cut of the film authentic. With all the remarkable effects in this film, how come this boo-boo has gotten in the way? It should have remained in the out-takes, or maybe have a reshoot for it, or if the budget won’t permit it, it is still possible to do something about it during the editing.
I wonder where the antagonist’s name Haring Bagulbol comes from. It could have been invented or based from something, or perhaps, made-up to create a funny sounding name for the children audience – which, in my own evaluation, is its target market. I would have to say this because the film is treated not in the fashion of an art film, a serious action film, nor a classic epic. Its level mainly promotes comic fun meant to entertain the children audience. The storyline is so shallow. Though visually rich, the plots are too superficial and no much intelligible bits and pieces are injected in the script. It is still purely Filipino mainstream, in the negative side of it. The casting is not so good. Paolo Bediones has never worked out at all. An older character actor could have saved the role. Comic relief is provided by Benjie Paras (Tayho) and Long Mejia. However, Long’s mere presence always draws out laughter from the audience even in a supposedly serious scene. It is not exactly a problem with the acting but with the image. I would have to commend the producers and filmmakers for the courage to cast people who already have certain images that are not exactly in par with the roles needed in the story. However, some of their choices for this movie have not worked out. These ones are not too versatile and are not able to prove their worth for the roles. With JR, his physical features are quite matching for his role as Bagulbol. His acting is slightly okay. With Aubrey Miles, her acting, as usual, is so dull. To compare her with the aura projected by Iya for her role, she remains so amateurish and she is not able to justify her bee-like shades – to the point that the shots focusing on her face almost becomes funny with the said shades. She maintains a ‘monotone facial expression’ that doesn’t convey much and lacks conviction. She doesn’t make the very character come out. Tolits, on the other hand, through the great help of effective make-up and costume, escapes his commercial model image. Iya seems to enjoy her ‘diwata’ role as her enchanted appeal tends to stand out without upstaging the other characters. The dubbing, using another female voice for her, is not too distracting. Same goes with Haring Bagulbol’s voice being dubbed by another person and enhanced by special effects. However, the dubbing gets awkward at times. There are minimal problems with syncing.

Putting creative insights for the crafting of the story’s mythical creatures and the utilizing of the four elements and the spirit unifying them are okay. But the plotline is so elementary and is being covered up by its fantasy presentation: light vs. dark; an extraordinary mercenary struggling to clear his dark visions of the slaughter of his race, his warrior father and his queenly mother; an army of evil supernatural warriors and fearsome, horrible creatures with a leader/king in a dark tower; a guiding fatherly figure to fill in the protagonist’s loss of parents; and a band of enchanted heroes. The special effects are obviously inspired with international blockbusters such as Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, X-Men, Mortal Kombat, among others. At this stage of our film industry, reaching the level of special effects of such films are stepping stones to making our own mark. What is important is putting such inspirations in good light, significantly new form, refreshingly creative approach, and not merely making a rip-off. And sooner or later, we can breakaway from copying and have something we can really call ‘Pinoy.’

This ‘epic of Pinoy special effects’ is enjoyable in big screen because of the techniques used and the visual and sound elements that are of considerably good value already. But to compare it with a cuisine elaborately made by an admirable chef, its quality depends not only with it being ornately garnished and richly tasting, but it should also be good to digest and beneficial for the health. This film achieves technical excellence but does not improve in story and content. The latter should also be taken into consideration next time. Nevertheless, it’s still interesting to watch for its special effects – both the visuals and the sound.