There is a part of “Angela Markado” that evidently clings to its original source material. It sticks to the classic’s premise but unfortunately stumbles delivering its full potential.
The Andi Eigenmann-starrer is helmed by its creator, Carlo J. Caparas, which also marks his return to directorial job. There is an unmistakable struggle in Caparas’ part to realize his own creation, but what he comes up with does not match even half of the craftsmanship and ingenuity that Brocka injected to the original 80’s film, that starred Hilda Koronel.
The film suffers through persistent editing problems, bland character developments, and poorly structured narrative, all of which dragging the film towards a miserably messed-up output.
The film is about Angela Markado (Andi Eigenmann), a woman who has endured brutal assaults from criminals who took advantage of her when she was still working in a bar, to provide the needs of her family. It follows her pursuing revenge, after barely escaping from her abductors, their marks tattooed on her back serving as a constant reminder of her horrible past.
The biggest mistake in Angela Markado is that even there is one clear reason that motivates the character’s revenge, there is no evidently sensible effort to justify her actions.
The film doesn’t shed light on the course of its proceedings that it seems it repetitively blunders over the same flaw over and over again, even without realizing it.
Fury has never left Angela, and she seems to have a tight grasp of her surprising combat skill, that she appears to be just basically taking down her enemies one by one, in uninterrupted streak.
That makes sense given how the narrative itself deprived its villains with decent material to make them as threatening as Caparas would seem to suggest, and ultimately the film just ends up being logically void, its emotional weight, if it is even evident, left crushed beneath its occasionally impressive visuals.
The film never resolves its own arguments that they seem to only exist as empty causes for Angela’s actions. It barely establishes a point, and it seems perpetually rushing toward a climax that actually does not have anything better to offer.
There is an ever imminent threat that abruptly looms in the wake of totally unrelated proceeding. Everything just doesn’t seem to connect well with each other. You can’t probably pin the blame solely on the actors, given how it actually seems the characters, themselves, don’t really have the enough juice for them to come across palpable.
In the end, “Angela Markado” comes across as an empty effort to resurrect a classic that does not necessarily long for a retelling. Caparas’ take of his own creation is plagued by horrible narrative and characterization faults, that in the end, what he is able to come up with can never at par with Brocka’s work.
RATING: 4/10 (JE)
