Movie Review: RPG Metanoia

01/14/11

Movie Review: RPG Metanoia

It’s funny that after almost two decades in this country, it’s only now that I’ve found a film that I can truly get behind as something that sets itself apart from the pack of asinine action flicks and truly banal dramas that the local studios have turned out year after year. What is even more remarkable is that I should find it playing during the Metro Manila Film Fest, the ass end of Philippine cinema. For years, this festival has been known for its idiotic comedies, melodramatic tearjerkers, and the obsequious sequels. Finally, FINALLY, we’ve seen a title that really embodies the kind of movies Filipinos deserves.

That title is RPG Metanoia.

“What?” you ask. “RPG Metanoia? Isn’t that a cartoon?” Yes. Yes it is a cartoon. It’s an animated feature length film that blows all other MMFF movies this year out of the water. It tops all MMFF movies ever made. It is better than any Filipino movie since the beginning of time!

Ok, maybe that last one’s an exaggeration, but it is one of the most imaginative, well-constructed, and truly Filipino films I’ve ever seen. What really makes it stand out is how it exudes quality. This isn’t something cobbled together in 6 months (MMFF scripts are chosen in the middle of the year, and filmmakers have half a year to film it). This is something that a few, very talented individuals slaved over for years, whittling the script down to the best possible narrative, sitting months with artists to make sure the models were true to the aesthetic of the film, waiting for eons while it was all rendered by computers that were a far cry from the server farms that giants like Pixar enjoy. The result is an amazing piece of work that can be watched over and over again.

And watch over and over again you will. Every frame of this film is bursting with little Easter eggs that only Filipinos will appreciate. The real-world environments (the film takes place in both the real world and the game world of Metanioa) are all distinctly Pinoy. You would not believe the thrill you get at seeing daing na bangus (fried milkfish) and pinakbet (mixed vegetables) being served on the protagonists dinner table, or the characters eating ice cream from coffee cups. A simple scene where one character unsuccessfully tries to hail a tricycle has an inexplicable appeal to me.

That is not to say that people outside the country shouldn’t see it. I would rate this show right up there with the cinematic gold that comes regularly from Pixar. The team behind RPG Metanoia seems to have the same kind of sensibilities that made Monsters, Inc. and Toy Story such hits. There’s an apparent sense that they sat together and said, “How can we make this movie better? What does it need? What should we cut? How can we make the audience care about these characters while keeping them entertained?” These are questions that not all filmmakers ask. Some are looking for the quick buck so a few slapstick jokes, some cross-dressing, or the newest love team is enough for them. They’ll take that and stick on a title pulled from past popular pop songs and BOOM! Done. Some are all for the quality, but they aren’t interested in entertaining at all. All they want is message, message, message. Never mind if the message is lost on the audience who fell asleep during the first reel.

The plot is rather simple, but it’s been beaten and worked until the pace of the show goes at a tolerable clip. Nico, an awkward, pre-pubescent kid who is more than skilled at the MMORPG Metanoia, learns that there’s more to life than leveling up. With his barkada (group of friends) that include Mark, Daniel, Bryan, Bobby and May. There’s a section where the gang starts to learn some traditional Philippine games like Tumbang Preso, Sipa, and Patintero. The whole thing brings back memories of college for me rather than childhood since I only learned these games as an adult during a PE class I took. I totally got injured during a hard-core game of patintero. There was gushing blood and everything. True story.

The message of the film really comes across here as Nico learns that there are games that you don’t need a fancy computer to play. The choice of music in the scene, APO Hiking Society’s Bawat Bata, really brings that point home. And there are dozens of scenes like that in the film; inspirational vignettes that hit home with not only kids, but with adults. But don’t worry; the movie’s got its fair share of kick-ass fighting, too. Once the kids are jacked in, their avatars take center stage. Zero, Ahdonis, K’mao, Mang Ernie, Sumpak, and C4SS4NDR4 (Jejemon, DIE!) are the kid’s representatives in the digital world. Together they have to defend against neighborhood bullies, high-level opponents, a slightly mad Internet Café owner, and a nasty enemy bent on re-making their world in his image. Wheee!

The in-game world is amazingly well thought out. There are flavors of Spanish colonial times; the Philippine server environment looks a lot like Intramuros or Vigan. But there’s modern Manila in there as well, with vending machines with graphics shouting “Sumpak na Sumpak!” dispensing weapon upgrades or ones that feed you health potions. Then there’s the futuristic, steampunk-ish, horse-drawn carriages walking around on robot feet. The little town also hosts some visitors from other corners of the world. There are the blonde Scandinavian warriors, Japanese samurai, characters straight out of a Korean tele-novella, and even mecha. But it all fits. You don’t really question it, even if you aren’t a gamer.

You’ll also notice that when in the game world, the frame rate of the film changes. This was a choice by the filmmakers and I loved the idea that we were still watching all this action go down on the screen, with the inherent problem of lag time and with bandwidth futzing with the playback. In execution, coupled with the friendly, round designs of the characters, the effect is like that of stop motion animation; as if everything on screen was a real model made to move by some artisan’s hand. It gave the whole thing another dimension of real to me.

There are very few things I can say bad about this film. One might say that their models aren’t as complex as the ones in Pixar films. They don’t have complex algorithms simulating the flow of realistic hair, or the software required to really get that translucent quality of human skin. Yet the story and script and animation are so well done that the lack of refinement did not pop into my mind once during either of the two times I watched it. And considering that they did this on the tiniest fraction of the budget a Pixar film has just makes it all the more amazing. I did have trouble with their marketing pieces, however, since none of the posters really conveyed the awesomeness of the final product.

I’ll also agree with critics on the voice acting. I’ve always found Dreamworks titles less satisfying than Pixar’s in part because of their choice of name actors to play roles, and it’s no different here. The voice cast here is culled from the ABS-CBN stable of actors (they’re the distributor for the film, and likely a source of funds) and only a few are up to the task. Voice acting is very different from being in front of a camera. The best voice actors are comedians because they’re, well, animated. That is true here as well with Ms. Eugene Domingo, who gives the most convincing delivery as Nico’s mom. Aga Mulach as his dad and the rest are less than persuasive, although Basty Alcances does make a very nice showing as Mark. “Oh… Hah?!”

This is a film that I have no problem paying full price for, and am eager to see again for the third time. I can only hope that ABS-CBN isn’t planning on shafting us fans with a craptastic DVD like they’ve done with the toy line which are all re-purposed refuse from their previous properties – they couldn’t even get the god-damned yo-yo right! Where the hell are the action figures, guys? Let’s have a DVD with extras out to wazoo. For a start, put all the stuff on the awesome website on it add more info about the characters and the world. Then add interviews with the filmmakers and animators; features on conceptualization, pre-production, design, animation. Then put on a few commentary tracks, some photo galleries of the character studies, maquettes, etc. and you’ve got yourselves a collector’s item that I’m going to fall in line for.

In the end, all I have left to say to you is this: I’ve always been disappointed by what I saw of Philippine cinema. This film has changed that.

 

 

For more information about RPG Metanoia, visit the official website or their Facebook page.