Goyo: Ang batang heneral

Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral cleverly portrayed Del Pilar in a light that stripped him of all the accolades and praises removing him from the pedestal of blind idolatry.

This movie humanizes Del Pilar of his struggles as one of the youngest generals that our history portrays as "The Hero of Tirad Pass." Later did we know that his aspirations and ideologies were persuaded by Aguinaldo, blindly adhering to his command. This mirrors the present society in which people blindly follow a person and unknowingly throw away their principles.

Do not confuse production quality to overall film quality.

Reasons: It was basically narrated. I don't see why this wasn't released as a book instead.

There was no directing involved just some fancy angles and color editing (which was really good for a Filipino film)

Scoring was too good not to get noticed

Some of the actors were good

A bit pretentious especially when the narration comes back in.

There was no climax whatsover.

So yeah, 4 stars

... what is it good for? Well some might argue for movies and I reckon they wouldn't be that wrong. So another one of the based on a true story. I don't know all the details and the movie might take some liberal approaches on certain things (quite likely it does).

The battle scenes are very well choreographed and the drama and story building is quite nice. If you like movies that shine a light on things like this, you will be more than satisfied.

Goyo: Batang Heneral is a way different tone from Heneral Luna. It is understandable because both heroes has different life story. Goyo is part war drama and part tragic romantic movie. It blends so well in this film. The film is never boring and everything in the film is worth a research after leaving the cinema. The acting is brilliant that all of the cast did their parts believable. The cinematography is majestic that it feels like I am from different time while watching this film. The musical score adds layer to every scenes made this film atmospheric.

Overall, Goyo: Batang Heneral is an instant classic! It belongs to our library of One of the Greatest Filipino Movies Ever Made. For years to come, this film lives and will be studied by every students who wants to know the life of Gregorio del Pillar. I'm proud watching this epic movie.

My favorite thing about Goyo is how it handled the small story of the native guides. It didn't say much out loud, but the inherent folly resonated.

My least favorite thing: mango shopping.