Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2 (2014)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

A Disappointing Continuation

Blistering performances.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Kubot is a sequel to another MMFF entry Tiktik the Aswang Chronicles which once again stars Dingdong Dantes in the role of Makoy. It is however a toned down version of Tiktik. Toned down version in terms of gore, in terms of special effects, in terms of scare factor, in terms of storyline, in terms of acting and counting and counting. It is however funnier than the first one. Lolot de Leon (who plays Dingdong's sister in the film) provides great comic relief though corny most of the times.Isabelle Daza plays the role of a good Aswang and who became an ally to Makoy. Joey Marquez is still present in the movie while Lovi Poe was only good in the first few minutes after being sucked dry by the new breed of Aswangs who can elongate their hair (headed by Ms. Elizabeth Oropeza.Kubot strayed from what Tiktik did best. In doing so, it lost its steam and magic. It became corny and tiring to watch given that it was a festival movie. The character of Dingdong became as tiring as well. The character was a pain to watch. The charisma was no longer there. The ending showed Marian Rivera (Dindong's wife and regular FHM's sexiest candidate) on a cameo role who vows vengeance for the death of their kind. I do not think this sold well either leading to another sequel. The MMFF for this year have no entry for a third offering (sigh)Don't expect Kubot to be a better movie than its predecessor. No wonder it was a flop in the box office. It din't even have a DVD release to date. I like Erik Matti's work but he definitely sucked from this one.

KUBOT: THE ASWANG CHRONICLES (a few spoilers!!!) is rollicking fun, and outright silly. But you knew that with Joey Marquez, Jun Sabayton, Ramon Bautista and Bogart the Explorer in the cast. Erik Matti's sequel to his groundbreaking TIKTIK CHRONICLES (2012), which boasted of different special effects never before seen, finds Makoy on a rickety jeepney ride with his wife Sonia and baby in tow. They encounter Veron (Elizabeth Oropesa) and her hag sidekicks, with truly frightening hairdos, and goes right out and eats Makoy's wife and walks away with the baby (all this time, Makoy's right hand is pinned in the overturned vehicle). Two years later, Makoy, grieving for his dead wife and baby, jaded and tired of it all (he had to slay innumerable ghouls in the first movie), settles in with his sister Nieves (Lotlot de Leon) and Nestor (Joey Marquez). However, when an upstart, Dom (KC Montero) invades the city with his horde of ghouls, infecting humans through contaminated hotdogs (yes, hotdogs), Nestor and Nieves urge Makoy, who now sports a gadget- laden mechanical right arm, to stand up and fight, if only to avenge the death of his family. With returning cast members Ramon Bautista (as Bart) and Marquez, KUBOT: THE ASWANG CHRONICLES, benefits from the addition of new cast members Oropesa, Isabelle Diaz Daza (as a "closet" aswang/lady doctor), and gamely surprises the audience with thrills, scares, and funny characters. The great special effects are moodily photographed by Shing Fung Cheung, while the music of Erwin Romulo jars the senses (sometimes it sounds like technoremix, sometimes like Argentine tango) and prods the story along. Lotlot de Leon won as Best Supporting Actress in the MMFF derby -- but how good her performance here is a matter of opinion, for from her first scene to the last, she camps it up with relish (and high camp/outright silliness shouldn't nab acting awards for any artist). Sometimes you feel you want her character to be killed off, but hey, she already did that in FENG SHUI (2004). Nevertheless, de Leon's busybody character is likable, funny, comical, and some rather witty lines are delivered by de Leon with panache. Diaz Daza proves she's no lightweight in the acting department, except for a bizarre, grimace-inducing scene when she and Dingdong Dantes are cornered by a horde of ghouls. From a roller-coaster ride of dazzling special effects, comedic touches and real thrills, the film degenerates into high camp and corn, like a beautiful but tawdry ship running aground. Even child stars Alonzo Muhlach and Mona Louise Rey have token appearances as aswang children, and this early they're seemingly taught to ham it up. Emerging unscathed from it all is Ms Elizabeth Oropesa, who, with very good makeup, is chilling and menacing as a queen ghoul who seeks revenge on Makoy. Young musical stars Julie Anne San Jose and Abra, providing James Bond gadgetry for Makoy, have almost thankless roles, but Ms Rina Reyes, sexy star of the late 1980s-1990s and granddaughter of movie queen Paraluman, is a welcome sight as a good Samaritan. Issa Litton, Dido de la Paz, Pao Gamboa and Nicco Manalo appear in solid supporting roles. For his part, Dingdong Dantes, aping some mannerisms from certain Tom Cruise/Keanu Reeves action movies, acts bored in his first few scenes. He only jacks everything up by the climactic showdown, and even then, everything else is swallowed by the humongous special effects already. KUBOT: THE ASWANG CHRONICLES, directed by Erik Matti, feels like a Filipino version of a Hollywood summer blockbuster with the title, say, TRANSFORMERS (directed by Michael Bay in 2007) -- all razzle dazzle but can't be scrutinized closely. Let's wait and see if Matti (who apprenticed under Peque Gallaga and has made sharp films like DOS EKIS (2001), PROSTI (2002), and PA-SIYAM (2004) and the fantastic indie sleeper hit/multiawarded film last year, ON THE JOB), and Dantes can come up with something new for the Part Three -- given that Marian Rivera makes a delicious cameo appearance at film's end. So far, among the eight MMFF movies, this ranks high up there with the BONIFACIO/Robin Padilla and the George Estregan Jr movies.

Well...as the supposed sequel to Boy Bawang--I mean, Tiktik(2012) Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles takes place right after the previous installment left off. It started on a high note and unbelievably shows promise, I expected a campy, silly and riddled with products placements B-Movie...but sadly, it ends when Dingdong Dantes screams for vengeance as it fades away together with my pocket money.The plot never gone on its way, it stops right at the first 10 mins of the film and from there it's like short clips put together with duct tape and staples. Plot points just keep popping out of nowhere, bombarding the audience with much information about its backstory but never really establishing on any of it. What was the point of this? of that? who knows, its there because it is.The Actors did a good job portraying their roles, with Elizabeth Oropesa (Veron) and Lotlot De Leon (Nieves) being the most memorable and notable characters in the film.you can't say much about this movie because there is nothing to say about it, unlike Tiktik(2012) which you had the Dark, violent and silly atmosphere topped with a very simple plot line and had fun in the process, Kubot left me feeling empty. It lost its charm and novelty due to lazy writing and a premise that seems to go nowhere, leaving the most obvious issues left unresolved. though in its defense, it is self-aware of its own failure.There are some scenes that will make you laugh and forget how bad this movie is for a moment and realize you're in denial and pretend to have fun. The campiness, gore, and humor is still there, cheap laughs and wasted potential is all what you will get but with no coherent bond to put it all together its a sad excuse for a movie.3 Man-meat Dogs out of 10

2012's Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles looked like an experiment of today's visual effects, but that surprisingly becomes the least memorable part of the movie since it already provides a lot of witty humor and excitement within its characters and direction. This sequel is a little less straightforward but tackles the same merits as it fools around with its monstrous mythology and shifts either from silly to awesome. The film may not offer beyond than having random set pieces in its own story, but this is already a rich and amusing world that not even the little problems of the plot matter. Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2 just lets the creativity and ridiculousness flow throughout the experience.Kubot is a little less gritty than the first one. The effects were also kind of moderated in comparison, but the movie shines better when it's all about the characters dealing with their own situations in a rather comical way. Following the plot doesn't exactly matter in this edition; how the film constructed each scenario, including the ones that introduces its characters, brings total intrigue. The real deal of this journey is just having fun with its weird universe, the kind of imagination that is rarely available in today's Filipino cinema. And there we take a look on a factory that grinds human parts into hotdogs, and then we watch most of its characters not taking their monstrous threat seriously and sometimes make a priceless gag about it, and finally the Hollywood wannabe action scenes that finds creative ways of pulling off each set piece. This is just a perfect combination of twisted, hilarious, and fun. What more could you ask for?Some might ask for a little more depth into the story's drama, but that is easily resolved in the end where it also plays with a crueler gag. In spite of not having a definite plot, it still provides rich details in its surroundings. The craft is still solid, bringing real aesthetic flavor to this larger-than-life adventure. The action scenes are cool enough to pose as a big blockbuster, though my only complain that anyone else may not agree with is some of the slow-mos. This is probably just a me thing, but as much as tries to look awesome, it rather slows down the momentum, but then it's never a big deal if the movie is already this entertaining. It's best if it's all choreography. The acting is pretty much the same and it's a great thing. Dingdong Dantes continues to be an appealing hero to this franchise, which also hints humor in his character's swagger. Joey Marquez and new to the cast, Lotlot de Leon, bring a perfect chemistry for the movie's best comic relief.Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2 is perfectly entertaining. Some might seek for more than being funny and cool, but they might be missing the real fun. The film still has some little flaws, but they are easy to ignore anyway. The franchise just continues to expand this mythology and it gets even more interesting. It's just totally adventurous and silly, hardly comparable to other local fantasy films getting released in a while. These Aswang Chronicles movies have its own personality and that what makes them special.