Incognito Honest Review - Bad Writing, Budget Suicide Squad vibes
Honestly tried to love the premise since I'm always down to support local productions pero anlabo, first episode pa lang. Sorry, siguro grabe lang talaga expectations ko given grabe din yung marketing and honestly, I've seen what ABS-CBN is capable of with its previous shows (Killer Bride, Broken Marriage Vow, etc.)
Yangdon-Philippines Friendship Night (Princess and I easter egg wow ano to cinematic universe?) pero ang konti ng tao, wala man lang ang Presidente ng Pilipinas or may na introduce na high-ranking official maliban sa isang unnamed Minister at ang Ambassador ng Yangdon at anak niya. Tapos if you check the subtitles sa Netflix (Chinese music) yung nakalagay sa opening fabric dance kineme. Ghorl. Friendship Night pero ang empty ng space, walang area na pinakita na may food or drinks and other exhibits puro vase. Tapos naka western formal na pandamit lahat maliban sa dalawang taga Yangdon. Friends ba talaga ang mga bansang to?
Minister from the Philippines started his convo with Ambassador Rai using extremely awkward lines. Yes, pwede naman na they're continuing their conversation from where it was left off but sobrang weird na start yung "Ambassador Rai....*reply* ....The Philippines has many beautiful islands but no port that can accommodate cruise ships." Sobrang huuUUUuuuuuHH???? Where the hell did that come from? No mention of the event's success, of their countries' friendships, anything, di man lang tinanong kung nag-eenjoy naman ba sa na prepare na event, tapos di man lang nga inacknowledge ng Minister yung anak ng Ambassador. Literal na dinedma si Belle Mariano. Ambastos dumiretso lang para ipitin yung Ambassador na parang "Oh yung port na hinihingi kong investment ha". Ewan ang kupal lang ng dating under the guise of such weird phrasing on top of that.
Name of Belle Mariano's character, Takako Rai. Takako is a Japanese name but she's from Yangdon, which is supposed to be based on Bhutan. The Ambassador's name is Jigme which is a Tibetan name so it passes. Hopefully may justification bat Japanese yung pinangalan sa character ni Belle or sana may Bhutan or similar roots yung name para naman kunwari may attention to detail sila but feeling ko di na nila pinagisipan yun. Mukhang nag wheel of names na lang mga writers.
Wala man lang security yung building outside the event's room. Di ko alam if kapos sa budget, or what pero sobrang weird na high profile international event, a goddamn "Friendship Night" between 2 countries tapos walang proper security measures outside the venue, kahit sa labas ng pinto mismo. Literal pumasok lang yung mga mercenary sa loob ng venue.
Binaril ni Aljur Abrenica yung isang mercenary sa chest tapos bumagsak naman si koya kahit may suot na bulletproof vest :))))) baka galing shenzhen sorting center. May part din na naiwan ni Aljur Abrenica si Belle Mariano jusko kung nabaril yun wala na. Grabeng plot armor.
The General told Ambassador Rai na sabi ng Presidente ng Pilipinas they don't negotiate with terrorists tapos parang inaccept lang ng Ambassador kasi "I understand, kung ako din nasa lugar ng Presidente..." GHORL?????? Na kidnap yung anak mong babae ng mga hinayupak ON FOREIGN SOIL, because walang enough na security to prevent that from happening tapos ayaw pa gumalaw ng Presidente para maibalik yung anak mo tapos chill ka lang????? Kung ibang bansa yan, grounds for war na yan agad or ma cut na agad yung alliances dahil diyan.
Ian Veneracion's character claims to be someone who "leads an elite private military company" and then he goes ahead to hire these randos to form a suicide squad. It does NOT make any sense. These people have NEVER worked together, they're not a team???? If you lead a company why not dispatch those who are PART of the company? Why not dispatch your best agents or best squad??? Bat ka pa maghi-hire ng mga freelancer na never pa nga nagka team building??? You have an "ELITE" company pero walang elite enough na pwede mo isama sa mission na yan? Gets ko sana kung he doesn't have a company and he was just tasked with the job kasi that makes sense bat siya mag round up ng mga tao to help. But for him to claim to have a fucking company tapos wala naman pala siyang tauhan jusko anong writing yan???? Scam amp.
THE MISSION: is NOT to save Takako Rai but to KIDNAP Donato Escaler. Ewan ko kung anong iniisip ng mga writers para kunwari fresh yung plot pero it does not make sense. You have a time-sensitive hostage situation tapos you spend more almost 48 hours to round up some freelancers, NOT to save the damsel in distress but to kidnap the villain's son to exchange them? Eh kung pinatay yung hostage naghire pa kayo ng kung sino-sino sa mga liblib kesa nagdispatch ng agents sa elite military company. ANLABO.
Pinahubad ng mga mercenary yung sandals ni Belle at pinagbarefoot siya maglakad sa gubat. Hopefully may additionally scene na tinago yung sandals o tinapon or sinunog unless intentional na iwan sa gitna ng daan as evidence???? I guess malalaman natin sa future episodes kung talagang nag-iwan lang sila ng evidence sa gitna ng gubat o inalis naman nila and eme lang yun dahil "symbolism" kasi sa start nagreklamo si Belle na "these shoes are killing me."
Less is more. 6 fight scenes in episode one. 4/6 were Daniel Padilla's. To me, it's overkill. Hindi to John Wick. Literal exposition pa lang to tapos sobrang dami ng fight scenes and for what? Para ma establish na kunwari action star era ng kaka break na love team and the youngest Padilla ganern???? Tbf, okay naman yung mga fight scenes. Yung iba masyadong choreographed but honestly not complaining coz it was executed well pero sana save it for the next episodes. May tendency kasi minsan yung ABS na ubusin lahat ng energy nila sa start tapos yung dulo wapakels na (e.g. La Luna Sangre, Pangako Sa'yo, etc.)
The train fight scene sobrang weird. I know sa Psychology may tinatawag na "bystander effect" wherein kung may situation na maraming tao and may person who needs help, may tendency tayo maging bystander kasi sa isip may tutulong namang iba, hindi na natin kailangan makisawsaw sa gulo. Ewan ko kung nangyayare ba talaga sa totoong buhay yung may babae na ina-assault ng mga group of men sa loob ng isang tren at wala man lang ni isang taong tumulong????? It's not na wala lang may tumulong, umalis pa talaga mga tao, leaving the poor woman alone. For what??? Obvious setup para maging hero, maging knight-in-shining-armor si Daniel Padilla. Tapos sisigaw-sigaw na "Yan lang kaya niyo? Ano gusto niyo pa??" tapos tumatayo lang nag-aantay yung tatlong natirang gunggong. Binigyan pa siya ng moment mag-monologue plsssss it's so cringeeeeee.
Di ko alam anong oras ng mga meat shop/meat factory mag pa out ng workers. Di ko alam kung night shift si Daniel or umaga na pasok niya pero kung hapon nga out niya nun at pauwi na siya, grabe naman na train station yun ang konti ng tao kahit rush hour hahaha talo pa Japan.
Ending of episode one: SINAGASAAN ng kotse ni Richard Gutierrez yung mga kalaban ni Daniel sa isang parking lot by the main road tapos may mga tao na nasa background who are witnesses sa scene tapos may dumaan pa na kotse. Wala man lang ba magrereport nun? And instead of telling Daniel Padilla to get inside para makausap, bumaba pa talaga sila ng kotse para mag dramatic pose at magtinginan. Sa sobrang tagal ng tinginan nila, gabi na sa episode two nung nakausap ni Ian Veneracion si Daniel Padilla. Sa dami ng oras na aksaya, kung may elite team sana na pinadala, na rescue na si Belle Mariano at tapos na ang teleserye.
May weird parts na di nagsynch yung dub sa video haha. May nagsasalita na dub pero di tugma sa bibig ng nagsasalita o iba yung galaw o scene mismo. Exhibit A: Sa part ni Baron Geisler saying ofc he wants to join the team. Ian Veneracion greeted him and dapat may verbal reply siya pero he just kept smiling and walking samantalang nagplay yung voiceover niya. Yung line parang reply sa sinabi ni Ian Veneracion pero di naman gumaglaw bibig niya, nakangiti lang. Exhibit B: Nung inaatake ng mga Manalastas group yung mga magsasaka, after napatay taga Manalastas yung pinsan na si Emil may sinsabi tapos di na naman tugma sa video na nasa scene. Halatang na rush yung editing at na compromise yung quality.
Episode 1 pa lang yan. Actually marami pa akong napansin pero pagod na ako. Hopefully early jitters lang to and the story, the writing, the editing makes sense later on kasi sayang yung premise pero ayun. Acting is excellent so far. Cinematography is decent. Some camera angles are kinda weird. Score is good. Pacing is too slow coz it tries to incorporate too many backstories as it introduces the characters. Overall, needs a lot of improvement but still holds some promise.
Rating: 1/5
