Starting scene begins with the main character "Tatang" Maghari (Joel Torre) and Daniel Benitez (Gerald Anderson) gracing the busy streets of San Juan while everybody is observing St. John the Baptist's Feast. Not much is revealed for a couple of minutes until the older mentor executes his job by killing a notorious criminal in broad daylight. Opening credit rolls magically. The film's first few life transitioned to actual news scenes in black-and-white.
The film progresses by acknowledging "evil". Tatang Maghari as a ruthless inmate-slash-part time assassin who is entrusting his work to the younger Daniel Benitez. On the other end of the spectrum are the "good", the anti-crime fighters who struggles with their own share of career ambition and of promoting justice despite the corruption, deception, danger that lurks.
Joel Torre and Gerald Anderson excelled in their craft. The advertisement is a little misleading for me since it significantly features the dashing Piolo Pascual who did average in the film though his character isn't as competent as the roles of Tatang, Daniel and even Sgt. Joaquin Acosta (portrayed by Joey Marquez). The role of Sgt. Acosta is very good ...but Marquez as its actor will just never work for me.
The cinematography is quite good - realistic yet artistic at the same time. It helps that camera shifts were backed up by some raging rock music at some point too - this adds extra excitement. Intense protagonist-antagonist fight/chase scenes. The main casts' side story adds a sincere dramatic and humane touch too.
This movie is fearless because it unveils our government's and crime group's realities. It exposes ambition to power, dangerous connections and shameless manipulation. It rolls everything into art like how unpretentious directors like Lino Brocka might possibly do it. It is not surprising if this film will never lose its mark on its viewers in the next decades to come.
**Pictures were lifted from differenT OTJ-related sites over the WWW.
