Mano Po 2: My Home

if you find the first one bad, the second one is no different at all! well, maybe, slightly less bad than the first. Performances were convincing except for Zsazsa Padilla playing a chinese ...the greatest miscast of all! Unimpressive when it comes to performance, yet tolerable acting too since it brought unintended laughs. alessandra de rossi's character was completely unnecessary. it is an outright embarrassment for this fine actress to be casted in what i call an "extra role"! shame! what about the chinese-loves-filipino-relationship of richard gutierrez and chynna ortaleza? wasn't that overly done already in the first movie?! been there, done that! like the first Mano Po, the biggest flaw lies in the script! the story is bland, too melodramatic, lacks originality and undoubtedly predictable. the same old story of a philandering husband with a couple of wives... he just happens to be chinese. the only commendable thing about this movie is the colorful production design and the luscious cinematography. clearly, filipino viewers would be bored to death when the producers featured ordinary filipinos in the story. so i guess, they had to make the characters filipino-chinese in order to amuse ordinary filipino moviegoers on how they transformed mestizo actors to look and talk chinese and probably to amuse the audience too by showcasing overdone chinese traditions and age-old cultures in the film which ordinary filipino viewers may actually find amusing! i guess next year, we should all hope for a MANO PO-Free christmas in the filmfest!!! Enough is Enough!

One still has to applaud the effort of all the people involved in the making of the Mano Po sequel. However, the finished product of director Erik Matti (of the Scorpio Nights 2 tragedy) fell short of a winning rebound. The Mano Po 2 tells the story of the three families of a wealthy Chinese businessman, whose recent death has left his three families vying for his fortunes. The ensemble cast includes Kris Aquino, Susan Roces, Zsa Zsa Padilla, and Lorna Tolentino among others.

Remembering Solid Snake's motto: 'The reality is no match for the legend'; One can only say that all the hype that surrender this movie was bigger than the movie itself. From a 'good movie' angle, Mano Po 2 is a mediocre attempt at a good old-fashioned family drama in the likes of the 50's 'Giant' or Marquez's 100 Years of Solitude. There is this 'been-there-seen-it-a-hundred-times' feel that one cannot simply escape. Miscasting is also a flaw that cannot be overlooked: Kris Aquino was the only actor in the movie that looked like a genuine Chinese, but she had to portray the part of a Filipina and leave the Chinese characters to be portrayed by Filipino actors in unconvincing China-eyes make-up (which is very hard to overlook).

Instead of having enjoyed Mano Po 2 in its deepest sense, my little sister and I enjoyed it in a 'Mystery Science Theatre 3000' style, wherein we heckled our way through the movie's laughable dialogue and flaws. For example: Kris Aquino, after 20 years, is portrayed by Ms. Susan Roces. All the other actors, after 20 years, seemed as if they did not age a day. It was as if the production company just had to squeeze Susan Roces in (no offense, she was a great actor in this one). Is this because her husband is running for the country's presidency?

Mano Po 2 could have lived up to its predecessor. however, there were flaws within the movie, serious flaws which could have been avoided.

The story evolves around the different women in the life of Tony Chan (tama ba to???), the patriarch of the family, and his three wives, Sol, Lu Chui, and Belinda.

The movie had a lot of conflicts since it evolves around four personas. Tony was burdened upon whether Le-an was really his son and afterwards proving the truth. Sol's afflictions from her children's sufferings. Lu Chui, being the only full-blooded Chinese, was still bounded to her old Chinese customs and traditions. And Belinda's selfishness on handling all of the businesses left by Tony.

The film identifies the difficulty of marrying someone who is not part of your race. Discrimination is faced in many non-Filipino - Filipino marriages. Most of the time, these problems arise when parents of both parties tend to interfere. The elders are bound to their customary traditions and you have no choice but to follow since you are bound into it, too. A lot of these scenarios happen and the wives are hurdled to accept the reality as it is.

The institution of the family is given high regards by the Filipinos. Often we hear the saying `magsasama kami, sa hirap at ginhawa.' Indeed, this is something you vow in your marriage, but what if you're through? What if you're already fed up? Even the church accepts this reality...came the existence of annulment! But family ties is very important not only to the Filipinos but to the Asians, as well.

Cultural diversity seems to be a major conflict among us. We tend to judge people according to their color, race, beliefs, etc. In this film, it created a room for us to see that even different races, different people can get along. It's all a matter of acceptance and respect. Tony and Sol have it. They did not split up because of their differences.they split up because of Tony's extra marital affair, which is another story. Filipinos are very rich in culture. We are mixed up with different native and foreign influences. We should be proud of it and make use of this rich culture towards peace and progress.

As a conclusion, I find the movie very realistic and better than the first Mano Po (which has a storyline that seems to be adapted from the newspaper!). This movie should not only be seen by the Chinese community but by the others, as well. The lessons that we learn from this movie is something all of us could relate to. A movie that we could reflect on. A film that does not only uplift our spirits but awakens our conscience.