Maria

When I sat down to watch this 2019 Tagalog movie, I can't really claim that my expectation were particularly high. Why? Well, the track record of the movies I have seen from the Filipino cinema haven't exactly been all that impressive. Mostly it has been so dubious romantic comedy, where once you've seen one, you've essentially seen them all.

But writer and director Pedring Lopez actually managed to surprise with this movie, as it was quite enjoyable and entertaining. And it was such a massive step up for the Tagalog cinema. I will say that this is actually one of the better Tagalog movies that I've had the fortune of watching. There's been a couple of other action movies from the Tagalog cinema that were good as well, so this is nice addition to that.

The storyline is pretty straight forward; a scorned former assassin hellbent on revenge. Yeah, that was essentially it, but the movie is loaded with enough action that the lack of a more in-depth storyline actually doesn't matter all that much.

The movie has a good cast ensemble to perform the various roles on the screen, and they do so quite well.

My rating of "Maria" is a six out of ten stars. This one is definitely watchable and enjoyable, if you should ever have the chance to sit down and watch it.

In this revenge thriller, we follow Maria (Cristine Reyes) a woman with a troubled past as an assassin who has now retired and started a family. When her old partners discover she is still alive, they murder her husband and daughter in cold blood and she vows revenge. For the most part, it does drag quite a bit and I think that's due to a really poor script. The bad guys say typical bad guys things which completely detracts from the authenticity and just feels very last minute. The acting is not too bad at all; particularly from Reyes who brings a good lead performance and Ronnie Lazaro is also fun as Sir Greg. There are a couple of really well choreographed fight scenes with a keen focus on martial arts and take a lot of inspiration from recent action hits such as John Wick. It's biggest saving grace is the soundtrack with awesome pounding rock songs by Mr Bones & The Boneyard Circus which went straight onto my playlist! I'd recommend the soundtrack and Maria's incentive for vengeance is justified propelled by a disturbing sequence half way through. Not for the faint hearted but also retreading old ground and not bringing much new to the table

Do not get fooled by the high ratings. It´s a below-average action film with below-average actors. A very well known, no surprise one-dimensional storyline about revenge. No surprises at all.

As a reviewer old enough to remember when these films were made only one place on the planet -- Hong Kong -- I consider this a solid effort with above average fight scenes. The problem could be that, in an effort to make English viewers feel more comfortable, the actors had to read some of their lines in English as if they were slang phrases -- something common in Japanese movies but which seemed awkward and stilted here. So ignore that. And the obligatory husband and child both seemed whiny and annoying so it was almost a relief when they were removed from the story. The rest of the movie is fine.

This film is the average of films in every dimension. It is generic and completely forgettable. There are worse ways to spend the time it takes to watch it, but there are equally many better ways.