Cultural appropriation transports 'Nilalang' to the land of forgettable

“Nilalang” follows NBI agent Tony (Cesar Montano) and his partner, Jane (Meg Imperial), as they investigate a series of grisly murders with links to a case long believed closed.

As the duo presses on, they discover the true culprit is a malevolent spirit of Japanese folklore with the power to possess anyone it chooses. Tony and Jane eventually enlist the help of Miyuki (Maria Ozawa), whose position as heiress to a Manila-based Yakuza family will lead them to the enchanted dagger and sacred book needed to end the spirit’s reign of terror.

Given how much discussion, debate, and outright vitriol that the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) has generated, this writer shall concentrate on the only question that matters in a write-up of this sort, which is whether or not the movie I watched is any good.

In the case of “Nilalang”, which is best described as a supernatural police procedural thriller, the answer rests squarely in the negative: It manages to insult fans of pretty much every genre it falls under.

As a foray into the supernatural, director Pedring Lopez (who had a hand in crafting the story) liberally lifts cues from the “Evil Dead” films, to the point of actually using the same “Book of the Dead” prop as a crucial plot point. 

“Nilalang” is a technically slick film that is content to ape what’s come before, but with none of the energy or inventiveness that distinguished the films it’s copying. Even scenes where Akane (Yam Concepcion) cuts her own face off and one where Tony takes a shovel to the head of a possessed gravedigger are executed with so little verve that they end up coming across as little more than dull.

On the police procedural front, protagonist Tony is the sort of burned-out, alcoholic, lone wolf, maverick character that original actor Robin Padilla would have had fun with. Sadly, his departure from the project leaves us with Montano, who is nowhere near charismatic enough enough to have fun with the role, much less elevate it above the level of tired caricature.

Case in point is an overwrought sequence where, immediately after promising his murdered girlfriend’s (Aubrey Miles) mother that he will avenge her death, Tony foregoes examining the crime scene completely in favor of drinking and firing his gun into the air while crying in the rain, illuminated only by the headlights of his Land Rover. When Keanu Reeves in “Point Break” (the original, not the remake) firing his gun into the air is a bar you fail to clear, you know your movie’s in trouble.

Perhaps the most confounding aspect of the film is the shoehorning of Japanese cultural elements into the narrative. Maria Ozawa’s much-publicized presence notwithstanding, the ham-fisted way in which the filmmakers seemingly picked and chose whatever they thought was cool from an afternoon of watching Japanese gangster flicks and/or anime borders on the distasteful. In no particular order, “Nilalang” presents its viewers with tourist versions of Japanese family values, rope bondage, gangsterism, and paranormal myth.

As a thriller, “Nilalang” has no shortage of opportunities to stage entertaining action sequences, but manages to squander them all, choosing instead to concentrate on convincing the audience of its grit and Japanese “cultural authenticity”. The result is a surprisingly lifeless effort that resembles more of an exercise in post production techniques and cultural appropriation than any actual attempt to entertain.

Indeed, when all is said and done, allegations of theater chains playing favorites and/or conservatives being scandalized by the film’s content are irrelevant. As far as “Nilalang” is concerned, you’re better off spending your money somewhere else. — AT, GMA News

"Nilalang" is now showing in select theaters nationwide, with additional screenings in SM Mall of Asia, Trinoma, and Robinsons Ermita starting January 4.