prospectus_capricornium The latest Paul Soriano movie chronicles the early life and humble beginnings of Manny Pacquiao, who for many, is a hero. The mere mention of the name is compelling enough to ignite interest among curious audience, but this movie isn't about the hero Manny has become today, it's about KID KULAFU, the zero he once was.KID KULAFU feeds on the tragedies and sacrifices of the young Manny Pacquiao and his family, to deliver its message with utmost effectivity. The spine of the whole narrative alone, is haunting enough, but it struggles to construct a coherent and fluid storyline. The real problem here is that so many things are happening but almost nothing gets resolved—one dramatic moment looms up and shifts abruptly to another, killing the excitement before it could even hit home, like a potentially strong blow that never landed on the face. Such lack of congruence takes away the heat and ceases the momentum, and leaves the critical audience wondering if the rest of the movie has still something left that could be of any sense.Yet, no matter how messed up and terribly flawed KID KULAFU's script is, it does what it is designed to accomplish: highlight Manny Pacquiao, sell his name and earn further respect and recognition. That seems the very point of dotting the entire narrative with dramatic expositions—regardless of how more often than not they felt unnecessary—that enumerates Manny's endless string of struggles. Working against this scarcely-written material, are brilliant actors who are left with nothing but to do their job. Alessandra de Rossi is an effective Mommy Dionisia here, forget her forced visayan accent, and she's perfect, as is Cesar Montano for his role. But most strikingly, is Buboy Villar, who for most part, effectively portrayed Manny. To forget the beautiful and crisp cinematography, and the effective musical scoring doesn't sound forgivable, too. For a maindie production, the visual drama is quite superb, and together with a timely inserted score, somehow and often not sustained, the movie is able to tug at the heartstrings.KID KULAFU throws as many punches as it can to impress its audience, yet only a few are precise enough to hit its targets. Yet again, on those few moments where it does, the movie delivers exactly what it is supposed to offer: a front seat view to the young life of one of the greatest boxers of our time, a glimpse of an icon's rough and rocky road to success, and a message of courage and determination to those who are on the same path as Manny. If this is a big boxing event, there's no denying in Manny ending up being victorious, only not unanimously, and certainly, not by knockout

3xHCCH The film begins with a shot of feet walking barefoot in the mud and rain while men are watching a bloody brawl as nightly entertainment. These were very artistically and aesthetically shot with innovative camera angles. We knew by then that we are going to watch a Filipino film of outstanding quality. The opening sequence alone already portends that this is not going to be an ordinary biopic.Coming into the film, we already knew that this film was going to be about the "National Fist" Manny Pacquiao and his rise from abject poverty in a war-torn Mindanao to a world-renowned multi-billionaire champion boxer. Back in 2006, there was once a biopic by Joel Lamangan which starred Jericho Rosales as Pacquiao. Just last year, we witnessed an excellent documentary "Manny" where the actual real-life characters told their stories. We already have an idea about his inspiring story of hurdling incredible odds to achieve impossible dreams. This film tells the familiar life story again, but Director Paul Soriano manages to tell it again in a gritty and realistic style which will connect with most audiences.The grittiness and realism of this film is rooted in the casting of an relatively unknown young actor Buboy Villar, who actually looks like one of those lean sinewy amateur pugilists we see in undercard fights. Villar's acting skills were impressive as they have a raw unforced quality. His athletic ability was also evident in those shadow boxing scenes, hauntingly executed so that it looked as if we were watching Pacquiao himself. He was also excellent in those recreations of Pacquiao's early fights -- very excitingly choreographed and edited.Alessandra de Rossi continues to impress with her acting prowess. Fresh from her award-winning performance in "Bambanti", de Rossi takes on the character of Pacquiao's equally iconic mother, Dionisia. Though this may fall into caricature in the hands of a lesser actress, de Rossi was more subtly funny as we see in her young Dionisia the beginnings of the brash and feisty Dionisia we all know now. And you know how de Rossi can really kill those dramatic scenes. Alex Medina plays Pacquiao's negligent father Rosalio. Cesar Montano plays Sardo, Pacquiao's uncle and first boxing coach and manager. Jake Macapagal plays Dizon, Pacquiao's trainer who helped him win bigger local competitions. These actors make the most of their screen time in effective and nuanced performances. Teen star Khalil Ramos plays Eugene, another promising boxer and Pacquiao's friend. I felt though that his matinée idol looks somehow distracted from the realism of his performance, especially beside Villar's vivid performance.The corny-sounding title may be a little off-putting for those who do not know that this was actually Pacquiao's first fighting alias. The name comes from his uncle's favorite drink Vino Kulafu, which was a very popular Chinese wine in Mindanao, a contemporary of Sioktong. However, this film should not be judged by its title alone. This is actually a very well-made, first-rate inspirational sports movie that is well-worth the price of its admission. It will move you. 8/10.

marcco-24159 (This is only my opinion)The texture and cinematography of this film; to simply explain how amazing it is; its somehow close to slum-dog millionaire. which is amazing. Im not an avid fan of watching PH indie films or those MMFF entries, most of them are unbearable and cheezy in terms of acting and lines. there have been movies with great textures as this film but the execution are still amateurish; like that Jazmin and Nora film. The story-lines of this film is exactly as how it should be; it didn't dwell long on other supporting characters, but other characters' presence where all clearly developed. Mistakes ~ for me; the film lost its texture quality when Manny had a surreal dream, it looked like those comedy fantasy Star Magic movie texture at that point. wth. I love Bisaya; I had friends who talked the film's language so I get some of the words, but I miss some details because it miss some hard coded subs. At the end of the film; you'll realize a lot of smart depictions and allegories of the execution. an example of this is - at the end of the film verses where shown; its what Manny always say to the public, but then it is revealed that it is a Bible verse. from the book of Philippians. get it? "Philippians". The film is amazing. iRate it 9.5/10

raulcustodio08 A lot of things are shockingly executed, amazing cinematography (just a lot of confusing shaky cam in fight scenes), fresh score (since most of Filipino movies score are recycled especially Romance Movies) the acting especially well portrayed by Robert Villar, Alessandra De Rossi and Cesar Montano. When they use our Cebuano accent, they got it like they live in General Santos. It can be the first dark sports film of FIlipinos and this is an example of the untold story. Conclusion, way more better, more mature and more believable than Pacquiao: The Movie of 2006 and a must watch to all FIlipinos. Out of 10 Direction: 8 Screenplay: 10 Score: 10 Editing: 8 Cinematography: 9 Story/Content: 9