Review: Ben-Hur, o Bakit Laging Gwapo ang mga Jesus Christ sa Pelikula?

YouTube

Podrace sa Tatooine. Joke lang.

Matagal na ang kwento ni Ben-Hur. Ang source material nito ay ang nobelang Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ ni Lew Wallace noong 1880, at mula noon ay nagkaroon ng maraming cinematic adaptation. Ang pinakasikat nito ay 'yung Ben-Hur noong 1959 starring Charlton Heston na nanalo ng Oscar para sa performance niya rito. Kaya sa mga nalilito pa rin, fictional po si Ben-Hur. Hindi po siya historical figure.

Wala namang problema ang pelikulang ito story-wise, kasi nga ito ay pang-ilang remake na ng isang sikat na nobela noong turn of the 20th century. The fact na nakailang remake na ito ay proof na maganda ang kwentong ito, so palakpakan natin si Lew Wallace. Siguro kung may isang problema sa kwento, ito ay ang kakulangan sa exposition ng sitwasyon sa Jerusalem noon. Hindi naman kasi lahat ng manonood nito ay Kristiyano, kaya mas mainam sana kung mas naipaliwanag pa nila ito. Although hindi ko pa nababasa ang libro ni Wallace, sa tingin ko mas malaki ang part ni Jesus Christ sa kwento, kaya nga "A Tale of the Christ" ang subtitle ng libro e. Siguro kung mas nadagdagan pa ang bahagi ni Rodrigo Santoro as Jesus, at kung ang Jesus scenes ay naitahi nang maayos sa main narrative, baka mas nasiyahan pa ang mga critics.

Patheos

Pa-gwapuhan ang labanan ng mga Jesus Christ sa Hollywood.

Performance-wise, maayos naman ang pinakita ni Jack Huston bilang Judah Ben-Hur (literal translation: Judah, anak ni Hur). Maalala niyo siya bilang hitman na kalahati ang mukha sa TV show na Boardwalk Empire, kung saan ang acting niya ay subtle pero very effective. Dito, ayos naman ang acting niya. He doesn't shine, but he delivers. Si Toby Kebbell, on the other hand, ay magaling. Bilang adopted brother at future rival ni Judah, nakuha niya ang effective villainy, 'yung may transformation pa mula mabait hanggang masama, at kung saan ang kasamaan niya ay hindi niya sinasadya at napilit lang sa kanya.

Phase9.tv

Sa anggulong ito, medyo kamukha niya 'yung character niya sa Warcraft.

Meanwhile, si Morgan Freeman naman ay typical Morgan Freeman. Masungit pero mabait na old man ang tipong role na swak na swak sa kanya. Halatang sinulit ng producers ang talent fee niya, dahil maririnig sa simula ng pelikula ang boses niya bilang voice-over narration. Nakaka-distract lang ang close-up shots niya, dahil nakikita ko ang mga nunal niya sa mukha na parang monggo bread. Tsaka 'yung dreadlocks, diyos ko po. Parang mop. Pekeng-peke at nakaka-distract.

Gospel Herald

"Ano ba problema? Hindi ba bagay sa akin ang rasta look?"

Wala rin namang problema sa direksiyon ni Timur Bekmambetov, na kung naaalala niyo ay siya ring nag-direct ng Wanted. Si Bekmambetov ay magaling sa mga action sequence, kaya naman ang sikat na chariot race sequence sa huli ay sobrang nakakadala. Pero honestly, sayang naman ang directing prowess ni Bekmambetov kung another remake lang ang gagawin niya.

Sa palagay ko, the world doesn't need another Ben-Hur movie. Kung gusto ng Hollywood ng mas marami pang sword-and-sandal epics, marami pang magagandang kwento sa Bible na hindi pa naisasa-pelikula. Pero para sa mga kabataan ngayon, dapat niyo nga itong panoorin kung ang kilala niyo lang na Ben-Hur ay si Ben-Hur Abalos.

Trailer List

Hmmm... cross? Okay, gets.

Ben-Hur. USA. 2016.



Original na rating: 7/10
Walang Ayelet Zurer nudity: -0.1
Walang Nazanin Boniadi nudity: -0.1
Chariot race sequence: +0.1
Naval battle sequence: +0.1
Dreadlocks ni Morgan Freeman: -0.1
Kagwapuhan ni Rodrigo Santoro: -0.1
Final na rating: 6.8/10

Che: Part Two (Guerrilla)

Never tell an asthmatic to stop smoking.

For those of you who are familiar with Che Guevara's life beyond his t-shirt appearances, this movie takes place after Cuba. Specifically, in Bolivia.

Like the first film, director Steven Soderbergh starts out again with a long map sequence, but this time of the entire South American continent. You'll get to see the different South American countries relative to each other. So those of you who think that Ecuador is within walking distance from Uruguay, think again. That's the same thing as people thinking Los Angeles is close to New York because they're both in the USA. Mostly, it's island people who think that way. That's because we have no sense of continentality (spell-check says that wasn't a word).

Rio. 3D

A kid's flick that is neither from Pixar nor DreamWorks.

Yeah, okay, it's adorable. But only because I want to have my honeymoon in Rio de Janeiro.

In time for this, of course.

Che: Part 1 (The Argentine)

For those who don't know who Che Guevara is, where have you been living the past few years?

Sadly, most youngsters now know Che as that guy on the t-shirts, but he is definitely more, more than that. And for that, we thank Steven Soderbergh, who decided it was time for the most popular revolutionary of our time to grace the big screen.

There are only two points I would like to touch on: Benicio del Toro's awesome performance, and Steven Soderbergh's very unique filmmaking style.

First, on Benicio. Now, the real Che Guevara was a little bit shorter than Benicio, but it doesn't really matter, as Che's charisma made his presence so huge as to make everyone around him feel smaller, and a bigger actor would definitely need the height advantage to portray the larger-than-life Che Guevara. But Benicio's performance is so good, so mesmerizing, that the moment he appears onscreen, all you will see is Che Guevara, not Benicio del Toro. The mustache and beard, the hair, the uniform, even the asthma attacks (I'm asthmatic myself), all these were nailed by Benicio. There are some however, who claim that Benicio's Spanish in the movie was not done with an Argentine accent, but if Benicio del Toro is the thespian that I think he is, I believe he may have tried to do the Argentine accent, but possibly didn't get it exact. Anyway, I'm not a native Spanish speaker, so I don't know anything about Spanish accents.

Second, on Steven Soderbergh. This guy is an Oscar-winning director for Traffic, a film which also won for Benicio Del Toro a Best Supporting Actor Oscar (now isn't that sweet). Soderbergh is one of the few directors that I would watch without even knowing what his movie's about. That's how much I trust in this guy's talent.

Originally, Che was screened in Cannes as a four-and-a-half-hour film, but was split into two parts for its American theatrical release. The first part, which is this film, The Argentine, chronicles the struggles of Che Guevara in the Cuban Revolution alongside the brothers Castro, and is told in an almost documentary-like fashion. And the thing that I love about Soderbergh is that he uses effective realism, deciding to shoot the entire film in Spanish. You can just imagine how any revolutionary flames may be snuffed out if this were portrayed by actors speaking with American accents in the jungles of Cuba. Soderbergh captured the real thing, the real revolution, while placing it all in context with the Cuban peasants armed with shotguns and rifles. The cinematography, the camera movement, even the music---you would not even notice them. You would feel like you were really inside the revolution, with Che Guevara as your commandante.

Other noteworthy performances are from Demián Bichir, who gave a splendid performance as Fidel Castro, and Rodrigo Santoro as Fidel's brother Raul. Ooh, Rodrigo Santoro...


Rating: Eight out of ten.



You may also want to read the review for Che: Part 2.