Maria

This film begins with an assassin named "Maria" (Christine Reyes) stealthily sneaking onto the inner courtyard of a heavily-guarded mansion. Not long afterward a fierce gun battle breaks out and she ends up killing all of her intended targets. The scene then shifts to seven years later where that same woman now has a husband by the name of "Bert" (Buji Lorenzana) and a young daughter named "Min-Min" (Johanna Rish Tongcua) and is quite content with her new life. Unfortunately, this changes when her former boss named "Kaleb" (Germaine De Leon) happens to see her and it's then disclosed that he has a score to settle with her which complicates things for all involved. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this turned out to be a pretty good action film all things considered. I especially liked the confrontation between Maria and her replacement "Miru" (Jennifer Lee) which I thought was well played. Admittedly, while not in the same class as any of the "John Wick" films, this one managed to hold its own and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Finally another action movie that actually has a budget to make one in the Philippines lol. I love the pictures the effects The characters are amazing and the music. It's a must watch movie. This is one of the best for me in PI. And must also watch Hard Day starring Ding dong Dantes.

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.

The cinematography was great. The writing was the worst thing about this movie. Try's way too hard to beAmerican cliche but ruins the whole move. The 'boss' is totally ridiculous and in no way to be taken serious or threatening. I know fight scenes are never realistic but we watch them anyway for fun, but this, totally ridiculous even though the choreography was done well. The special effects were very poor and way to much blood spray in every scene. This effect has been way over used in many films and does not look realistic at all. I felt nothing for the main character as i should have but there was no character development except for when they kill her family. Even then, it was too rushed. Had high hopes for this but it failed. I would recommend Buy Bust with Ann Curtis for a better movie all together.

I had low expectations. I don't give movie reviews, ever. But reading all the other bad reviews, I just lost it. So here goes. First, most of the fight scenes are amazing and I have NEVER SEEN before in a Filipino action film. Most of them, at least. Some were flawless, some were just too choreographed. The acting, well, thanks to Ronnie Lazaro and Freddie Webb, it wasn't all that bad. I wish Christine Reyes just didn't speak English at all. But her facial expressions and overall acting, fight scenes, and stunts were incredible compared to her previous roles. The gunfights were great and to those saying they were bad, oh please, it's because you're comparing it to Hollywood movies. Stop. This isn't a Hollywood caliber one but it was entertaining. A few more polishes, a more in-depth storyline and screenplay and better acting would've made it much, much better. Kudos. This is tge start, please keep it up.