Friday, October 25, 2013

The Road - Philippines

          Director:  Yam Laranas
          Year:  2011
          Plot:  "When three teenagers disappear after a joyride, detective Luis Medina connects the events to a 12-year-old cold case with eerie similarities."

          Wow, a year since I posted...  Sorry...  Anyway, this wasn't my first choice of movie, but as the one I wanted to watch only had sound coming out of one side in my headphones (headphones work fine), I decided on this one.   I had it on my list of movies to watch, but hadn't really gotten the urge to watch it.  Maybe that is because the plot description, while interesting, doesn't particularly grab me.  In any case, the movie did pique my interest as I began watching it.
          I was a bit apprehensive about the movie in the first 10 minutes as it seemed kind off stupid, particularly the girl's scream as she turned only to fall off her bike.  When the red car showed up though and one character makes a rather strange claim, I found myself interested.  I definitely think the acting, as far as the scared teenagers (I have seen worse though, sadly) go, could have been better, but the storyline had my interest enough that acting wasn't that big of a deal overall.
          I did have an issue though with the story.  I know, I said it had my interest, but the problem was the movie never really worked itself out well enough.   The twist of who the killer is, or was, wasn't too bad and I was able to accept that well enough despite some issues with reality.   The thing I really had an issue with is the fact of how the teenagers got stuck on “The Road”.   I mean with the reveal of who/what is behind the disappearances, Part I really makes no sense.  And for the first time, I find myself needing to post some spoilers just to get this out as I have found no one bringing up this little plot-hole (from where I stand).
------------------*Spoiler Start*------------------
          Okay, so at the beginning of the movie, the teenagers go for a joyride and end up on a road that was blocked off by a wood gate.  No real problems there. Then as they go on, the road just seems to continue and a red car passes them.   A bit later the same car passes by again one of the girls verifies that there isn't anyone driving which she thought the first time.   As things progress, they realize the road just keeps repeating and the car continues to pass them until they see a bloody person in the back.   This point is where my plot-hole came up.
          By the end of the movie, it is revealed that the killer is the cop Luis and the ghosts were previous victims.   Normally I would say they were just trying to warn the teenagers away, but then how come they basically went in circles and had no way off the road?  I mean the ghosts wouldn't have kept them there and obviously the human killer couldn't be responsible.  The only possible explanation is that it was Luis' mother, but the movie gives no reasons to support this.   She only seen through her son's eyes and wasn't responsible for the predicament of the sisters, so logically, she wouldn't be responsible for the teenagers either.
------------------*Spoiler End*------------------

          Despite the rating, which it got for the storyline issue, and for being at times a bit slow, I might still suggest watching this to some.  It isn't the best movie, but the first part was quite good.  If this was a short (just Part 1) and not a full length movie, it would have gotten at least a 4 star rating, but the other parts really brought this movie down for me (particularly Part 3).  If you do decide to give it a shot, don't expect Part 1 to tie in perfectly with the rest there are points that tie in nicely, but one major one that doesn't.  (Oh decided to use trailers instead of pictures for the end of posts.  n.n)

          (Not greatest quality but other version showed way too much of Part 1.)

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