Entertainment
Now Playing: Scarlet
The revenge story experiments with the idea of self-discovery.
You can’t go wrong with a revenge story. Watching a group of evildoers get their deserved comeuppance is always a good time. Mamoru Hosoda’s Scarlet promises such a tale worthy of the greats. However, Hosoda quickly sheds the veneer of revenge for a tale of self-discovery.
Scarlet, the film’s eponymous character, is a princess on a quest for revenge against her uncle, a usurper who ordered the death of her father. However, before she can deal the killing blow, her uncle outsmarts the attempt by poisoning her. She dies and is teleported into a purgatory called the Otherworld. There, she must fight against the other departed to exact revenge from the other side.
So much for revenge
A mix between Dante’s Inferno and Hamlet, Scarlet should have the makings of an excellent revenge story. However, though Scarlet keeps revenge as her main motivation throughout the entire film, she eventually finds a new quest in discovering what she wants to be after she gets her retribution.
She meets Hijiri, a pacifist paramedic from the modern era, who persistently asks her to reconsider seeking violent ends to her enemies. With Hijiri in tow, Scarlet discovers that there is more value in helping other people and giving her enemies a second chance.
Was it a shift well earned?
Most revenge stories today come with a similar twist where the main character reevaluates their murderous rampage to seek inner peace. This usually comes after the murderous rampage. After all, how do you redeem someone who hasn’t done anything wrong?
In stories like these, satisfaction comes when the main character kills minor villains. After getting their fun, a traumatic incident causes them to lose their drive to fall short of killing the main villain. In some situations, the character sacrifices themselves to save someone else. In others, they choose to forgive the villain.
Scarlet fast-forwards straight to the finish by choosing less violent measure right from the beginning. As hellbent as she is on killing her uncle, she fails at every step, usually because of stronger enemies. The only thing she becomes good at is sparing and forgiving her foes, often prodded by allies.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with writing a unique take on the revenge story. However, Scarlet wants audiences to learn its lesson without going through the grueling work that often comes with such a lesson.
Hosoda wants to play it off as the futility of vengeance, and he’s right in making that the moral of the story. However, this just doesn’t stick.
A beauty on the screen
Amid all the criticism, Mamoru Hosoda always manages to deliver visually appealing pieces for the big screen. Scarlet is no different. It features hand-drawn animation that looks three-dimensional and laid on top of realistic scenery.
For all its misgivings, Scarlet transports audiences to a picturesque purgatory with a clear target, the Infinite Lands. If you love fantasy world-building, the movie showcases a fantasy worthy of the name. Though I had problems with Scarlet’s character, I still looked forward to seeing what comes next over the horizon.
Entertainment
Street Fighter special look: Blanka vs. Ryu
Jason Momoa, Andrew Koji’s characters face off
Paramount Pictures has released a new special look for Street Fighter featuring Jason Momoa and Andrew Koji.
The short, minute-long clip shows the actors’ respective characters, Blanka and Ryu, in battle.
It opens with a chained prisoner struck by extreme electrical charges, transforming into the green-skinned, electricity-infused Blanka.
He unleashes a fierce roar. Meanwhile, Ryu drops into a fighting stance, but tells Blanka he does not want to fight him.
Forced to defend himself, Ryu then fires a signature Hadouken fireball towards Blanka, as the teaser cuts to the Street Fighter title card.
Street Fighter debuts in cinemas starting October 14. It is directed by Kitao Sakurai and stars an ensemble cast that includes Noah Centineo as Ken Masters, Callina Liang as Chun-Li, Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoai as Akuma, and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as Balrog, among others.
The film is set in 1993 when estranged Street Fighters Ryu and Ken Masters are thrown into combat when Chun-Li recruits them for the next World Warrior Tournament.
Entertainment
Now Playing: Spider-Man: Brand New Day
It’s a must watch for Spidey fans who want to see Peter Parker enter his sad boy era.
The Holland-led Spider-Man trilogy is one of my favorite franchises in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Compared to other series with admittedly disjointed plots, all of Spidey’s storylines have a clear thread leading from one to the next. Since the fourth entries after trilogies are historically lackluster, I had a lot of trepidation heading into Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Thankfully, all those worries were unfounded. Brand New Day follows the same throughline as its predecessors, once again reinforcing Spider-Man as the strongest franchise that Marvel offers fans today.
A brand new day indeed
Coming from No Way Home, Brand New Day still has Peter Parker live a new life as a literal nobody where no one remembers who he is. So begins his existence as just Spider-Man with no friends or family.
When a new and unseen threat ravages through New York City, Spidey starts to wish that he still had friends to help him out, which leads him on an inevitable collision course with Ned and MJ. Ironically, it also leads him to other characters in the city, including the Hulk and the Punisher.
A cacophony of villains
When I first saw the trailer, I was worried about the astounding number of villains from the get-go. After all, one of the biggest problems in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3, the most maligned entry in Spider-Man movie history, was the villains. Though far from the movie’s biggest problem, having too many bad guys without a solid plot led to its terrible reception. You can see why Brand New Day’s trailer raises some flags.
If you were thinking the same thing, Brand New Day does indeed have a cohesive plot. Everything flows neatly into one another. Each emotional beat of Peter feeling for his solitude mixes well with the action. In here, fight scenes feel like they have a purpose.
And there is a big bad here. It’s not just a collection of guys that Spidey has to go through. That big bad, who shall not be named at this time, doesn’t feel like just a placeholder for Peter’s internal struggles. They have a character of their own and their own struggles to solve. I wouldn’t say they’re at the level of Loki just yet, but they definitely have a better go at it than most of the MCU’s other villains.
Marvel’s New York City finally debuts
Despite being a prime location since 2012’s Avengers, New York City never really felt like the quintessential city for superheroes in the comics. In the movies, the city was just another city to be ravaged when a new villain comes along.
For the first time, Brand New Day makes the city feel like a lived-in world with a bunch of superheroes living in the neighborhood. And they do pop up.
Does Peter have a scientific problem that only a very specific hero can solve? It’s a good thing Bruce Banner is just around the corner. Does he need some muscle? Well, the Punisher is skulking around somewhere. Plus, there’s even a succinct reason why other superheroes can’t help out.
In this way, Brand New Day presents itself more like a comic book series than a one-off movie. It’s like following the story alone from issue to issue. It’s not the most perfect adaptation of the landmark city, but it goes a long way from just another ravaging of New York.
Peter’s sadness
Everything here hinges on Peter’s loneliness. Despite meeting a trove of characters across the cinematic universe, Peter yearns for time with his loved ones. But they’re gone.
Unlike the past three films where he always had someone to go home to, he has no one here. Tony Stark is dead. Aunt May is gone. Happy has gone to parts unknown. Ned and MJ have no memory of him. Brand New Day has a way of making you feel for his aches, whether the way he still keeps track of MJ or some physiological changes as a result of his predicament.
It also helps that the movie’s big bad has similar motivations. Both serve as perfect mirrors against each other, elevating both their stories effectively. And that’s all I’ll say about that.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a few steps behind from being a perfect Marvel movie, but it’s still an extremely strong part of the Spider-Man mythos. The trilogy, now quadrilogy, remains Marvel’s most consistent franchises to date. It’s an absolute must-watch.
Entertainment
UNDERTALE: The Determination Symphony hits Makati in October
Determination arrives in October.
For so small of a game, UNDERTALE quickly made it into the gaming world’s hall of fame. Despite being only a decade old, the small title has had a major influence for modern-day gamers because of its unique gameplay, its lo-fi art, and, of course, its catchy soundtrack. If you’re a fan of UNDERTALE’s soundtrack, a unique concert experience is headed your way.
On October 17, Film Concerts PH, in partnership with SOHO Live, is hosting UNDERTALE: The Determination Symphony at the Proscenium Theater in Rockwell, Makati.
The concert will be performed by the Filharmonika Orchestra and conducted by Thanapol Setabrahmana. Personally curated by creator Toby Fox and developed by Lambert Jackson with Materia Music, the concert experience showcases the game’s most recognizable tunes laid over gameplay footage playing simultaneously. Plus, for the world tour, the experience will have expanded scoring.
In the game, you play as a small child stuck in the mysterious Underground filled with interesting characters and monsters. Unlike traditional RPGs, UNDERTALE asks players to choose between building relationships and chasing after wins. It’s a unique experience that’s defined by whether you chose to make friends or fought your way to the top. It teaches players to value different ways to solve problems, all while showering them with its one-of-a-kind humor.
Pre-sales for the concert, exclusively for members of the Film Concerts PH community, start on August 4. Public sales, however, will start on August 11 via Ticketmelon.
SEE ALSO: The hunt begins: The Witcher in Concert hits Manila with surprises in tow
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