Fighting violence with violence

By Michelle Anne P. Soliman

Movie review
Gandarrapiddo: The Revengers Squad
Directed by Joyce E. Bernal

PATTERNING a movie’s title and characters on foreign comic books, a decades-long secret, and the evil-becomes-good-and-good-becomes-evil storyline — it’s all been done before. Sadly, it continues. Gandarrapiddo: The Revengers Squad begins with a fight scene, with Gandarra (comic Vice Ganda playing a gay superhero whose power and strength are gained from a lipstick staff) defeating Madman (RK Bagatsing), but a falling rock lands on our protagonist’s head, leading to amnesia. Gandarra forgets she’s a superhero. The rest of the Revengers Squad — Flawlessa, Higopa, Pospora, and Barna — decide to adopt Madman’s son Chino and live a normal life on earth.

Over the next two decades the Revengers live as ordinary people — while devising all kinds of schemes to get Gandarra to regain her memory — but are conflicted on whether or not to tell Chino (Daniel Padilla) about his origins and his superpowers which will kick in when he turns 21. As they bicker, Chino discovers his ability to move swiftly (earning him the name Rapiddo).

Naturally there are villains — Minos (Egay Falcon), who wants to steal Gandarra’s powerful lipstick staff, Kweenie (beauty queen Pia Wurthzbach), and the Mabulate rebels.

The change in the story’s focus from Chino’s transformation to Rapiddo to the main plot of defeating Minos is much too abrupt. Meanwhile, the change in Kweenie’s character from villain to a kind of long-lost sister of Gandarra lacks progression.

The incorporation of relevant social issues and current events — the prevalence of fake news and violence in the community — come off as rather trivialized.

While the movie’s jokes and funny scenes inspired choruses of laughter from the audience at the screening, this writer remained straight-faced the entire time. By the movie’s climax, I badly wanted the villain defeated already just to end the movie. Overall, the story aims to present the importance of family and selflessness. It also emphasized the value of love and doing good to others — during dialogues. Let’s give it that.

MTRCB Rating: G