This movie is the official sequel to Robin Padilla's 1990 hit, Anak Ni Baby Ama ("Son Of Baby Ama"). The first film catapulted Padilla into action stardom and ranks among the best crime drama films in late 80s Filipino cinema. The original flick combined a very tight script with great acting talents, inspired direction, competently staged action set pieces and a cool musical score.
The second movie though, with the subtitle Hari Ng Selda ("King Of The Cellblock") is severely lacking in the qualities that made the original movie an above average release in the genre of gangster action films. While the story is partly based on Robin's real life experiences in prison after serving a two year sentence for illegal possession of firearms, it is mostly a fictionalized dramatization of life behind bars. The director of the first film, Deo Fajardo Jr., returns to helm this next installment and he also wrote the script with additional input from Padilla.
The main problem with the movie is its lack of cohesion and unity of ideas; it doesn't know if it wants to be a romance drama, a prison drama or a gangster movie. It also doesn't have the same vibe and tone as the original film (with the exception of the sex scenes which manage to, like in the first movie, to look like softcore porn). In addition, the film doesn't really resolve the issues from the first movie; you'd recall that in the original, the Tondo kingpin, Ramon Crisologo wanted Anghel to replace Johnny Roa as the new crime boss of the Manila underworld. I think the sequel should have explored this idea instead, as it is a more compelling and fascinating premise than what eventually ended up in the sequel. The synopsis for my ideal sequel would be Anghel escaping prison through the help of Junior Bahala and his men, after which Anghel would take control of a big syndicate's criminal activities. Padilla doesn't even need to play his old role in this new installment.
But to go back to the review, the romance angle in the story seemed forced and out of place. It was written into the script to resemble the romance between Anghel and Ann from the first movie. Needless to say, the romantic subplot isn't really that interesting and should have been entirely discarded. The film is also devoid of realism as can be seen in the various shootout scenes where people just drop off after being hit by bullets; there's no special effects where the clothes get torn or blood spills out. That's how unrealistic the gunfights look so the suspension of disbelief goes out the window. Simply put, this is shoddy, lazy filmmaking (I think the government movie censorship board of the Philippines also had a hand in this lack of realism). The film's biggest goof though is the recasting of actors (whose characters died in the first film) from the original movie and having them play new roles in this sequel. Dick Israel, Rommel Padilla, Jun Hidalgo and several other actors are reintroduced playing new characters. Again, this adds to the film's lack of realism and believability (Unless the film is perhaps set in an alternate universe where the laws of physics and logic don't apply).
In conclusion, Anak Ni Baby Ama 2 is a disappointing, boring, uninspired and mediocre release that fails to live up to its predecessor. It's supposed to be Padilla's return to a serious role after a spate of mediocre action romcom films. Watch Blood In, Blood Out instead if you want a convincing and interesting prison drama.
