‘Tres’ review: Three stumps

The goal is actually quite lofty.

Imus Productions’ Tres wants a resurgence of action films. In a market crowded with romances, the film’s endeavor to spark genuine interest for popular entertainment that is about anything other than love is a risk that is worth taking.

Short of its ambition

Unfortunately, Tres falls very short of its ambition.

The production’s biggest problem is that it confuses its intent to reawaken action films with the resurrection of the careers of each of the Revilla brood, who individually gets to star in their own episode.

It is, however, quite an egotistical move, which would have been somewhat alright if the 3 Revilla scions had more mettle to substantiate their leading roles. While it cannot be denied that Ramon Revilla and his son, Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr., were prolific action stars, the presumption that the 3 young Revillas’ foray as action stars would revitalize the genre is foolish.

Of the 3, it is Bryan Revilla who seems to be trying the hardest. He plays the role of a vengeful cop living a double life in Richard Somes’ Virgo, the first of the film’s 3 episodes and probably the only one that shows hints of real promise.

Virgo suffers from being overly truncated. Characterization is almost non-existent, with almost everyone onscreen except Bryan Revilla and maybe the character played by Joey Marquez being reduced to stereotypes or fodder for maximum body count. There are interesting ideas here and there, and Somes is gifted when it comes to staging raw and brutal fight scenes in cramped and corroded places.

However, there are glaring holes in the narrative that dampen whatever emotional impact the episode aspires for.

Drugged and confused

Amats, the middle episode directed by Dondon Santos, has Luigi Revilla get lured into the lurid world of drugs when one afternoon while gassing up his fancy car, he gets seduced by a mischievous maven played by Assunta de Rossi.

The episode has all the expected visual quirks of a film about drugs. There’s Revilla, De Rossi, and Sandino Martin looking dazed and confused, staring at ceilings or walls or whatever object that has the misfortune of being in front of them. There are wacky camera angles. There are sudden bursts of anger that lead to fistfights in bars, clubs, and condominium hallways. Somewhere beneath all of its manufactured frenzy is a love story between Luigi Revilla’s character and a kindhearted waitress played by Myrtle Sarrosa.

However, that romance and whatever humanity that’s left of the characters are burdened by all the confusion and chaos that Santos recruits to give the episode a sheen of approximating what it’s like to live a life under the influence of illegal drugs.

Then there’s 72 Hours, which is also directed by Santos but stars Jolo Revilla as an anti-drug agent who falls in love with a cop, played by Rhian Ramos, who gets involved in the escape plan of a captured drug lord.

The episode is mostly shallow sheen, with Santos piling one action film staple after another without delivering any real thrills or excitement. In fact, it is this episode that feels the most stubborn in terms of maturing the genre. The gimmicks are generic. The wit is lousy.

Moreover, Jolo Revilla struggles to replicate the odd mix of macho humor and lumbering athleticism his father is most known for.

Sadly, it all feels dated.

Players, props and playthings

What is most alarming about 72 Hours is how it kept on pushing the image of Jolo Revilla as a suave playboy, with the film ending with the character quickly flirting with a new recruit after suffering from a romantic tragedy. It is woeful how the episode insists on propagating horrid clichés within the genre. It then becomes apparent that for all the three episodes of Tres, women are nothing more than passive players, props or playthings.

This isn’t exactly how the genre needs to be revived.

Given films like Somes’ own We Will Not Die Tonight and Erik Matti’s BuyBust which contemporize the tired genre to imbibe progressive sensibilities and inclusion, Tres appears to be just plain stunted.  – Rappler.com 

 

Francis Joseph Cruz litigates for a living and writes about cinema for fun. The first Filipino movie he saw in the theaters was Carlo J. Caparas’ Tirad Pass.

Since then, he’s been on a mission to find better memories with Philippine cinema.