8 Disappointing Ways “Nilalang” Blew It
Jan 5, 2016 • Kel Fabie
Via flickr.com
Not pictured: the paragon of unbridled masculinity.
Aubrey Miles shows up in one scene and is promptly murdered afterwards. Yet again, a female character is turned into a plot device to give motivation to the male lead, who quickly moves on to Maria Ozawa a few moments later, because he is the paragon of unbridled masculinity.
If you wanted to see someone who actually thought out how to deal with a demon that can transfer from body to body, watch the film Fallen, starring Denzel Washington. It wasn’t a good film at all, but it at least set clear rules and limits and a sound strategy to deal with the film’s villain.
Tony, Cesar Montano’s character, does no such thing. He refuses to believe in spirits until it’s way too late, yet only pays lip service to the notion of fighting a demon. He still insists on shooting with guns, and has no semblance of a plan of action outside of “let’s hope the plot makes Zahagur stupid enough to fall for this.”
If you are the target of a vengeful spirit, why do you need to go to where he is? Why not let him come to you? And if he can possess people at will, why would you want to send a ton of people to where he is? And why would you show up late to the fight after calling for backup?!?
Via imgur.com
Nilalang’s plot was so bad, the story for this film seems like LOTR in comparison.
The worst part of the whole thing was that whenever someone was possessed, they had to kill the host to get away from Zahagur, yet they never seemed to show an ounce of remorse for the person they just killed. Remember: they are possessed by a demon. They are not in control of their actions.
Worst of all, either Zahagur is still on the lose at the end of the movie, or there are more demons just like him and Cesar Montano and company would rather just kill the hosts instead of dealing with the demons. Which leads to the question: why don’t the demons try possessing Cesar Montano to get it over and done with?
I wanted to root for Nilalang. I really did. Unfortunately, it appears that Maria Ozawa’s attempt at making her mark on Philippine cinema may not arrive anytime soon. At least, as long as she relies on writers who can’t write storylines any better than the ones her porn flicks used to feature.
What were your thoughts on the movie? Share them in the comments below!
