Teenage Mutant Ninja Pinoy-style

Regal Entertainment’s Super Noypi makes no bones about its provenance. It’s Mutant territory, Filipino-style, via X-Men and Fantastic Four; with an opening sequence that has a futuristic world that aims to remind us of Blade Runner. Quark Henares directs the film, and with a GP rating, it’s Regal’s potent challenger for the family fare gate receipts of the recently-concluded Metro Manila Film Festival. Having said that, let’s recognize that films such as X-Men, Spiderman and other US blockbuster summer fare rely on their special effects and CGIs (Computer Generated Images), as much as they do on credible storylines and strong portrayals. The human side and perpetual identity crises of these superheroes often have to do with fitting in with the rest of society, and how their powers are also what make normal people shun or fear them. This freakish element adds pathos to these characters, and allows us adults to still find these films engrossing beyond the effects.

With Super Noypi, the emphasis is on sheer entertainment and storyline. Lia (Jennylyn Mercado) comes back from the future, hoping to change the fate of this future world, ruled by a dictatorial and totalitarian super-villain, Diego (Monsour del Rosario). Enlisting the help of a bunch of teenage kids, who at the start of the film, are unaware that they are the progeny of a band of do-gooders who possess super powers; Lia galvanizes the group of Lorenzo (Mark Herras), Annys (Katrina Halili), Ynigo (John Prats), Euen (Polo Ravales), Michie (Sandara Park) and Tonton (Andrew Muhlach) to take a stand against evil and save their parents in the process. They discover their individual powers, and in the case of one of them, her own revelatory provenance.

Whatever can be said about the sound quality and lighting of the print I watched, you can’t fault the people behind the film on the enthusiasm they brought to the project. Inevitably, the special effects leave a little bit to be desired; I didn’t like the "wings" that sprouted on our heroes, and perhaps some more effective "cleaning up" of the CGIs could have helped make the film seem more realistic and seamless. On the acting side, I would have to give my nods to Jennylyn and John Prats for adding more fire to their portrayals. Jennylyn seems to really throw herself into her characters, and that augurs well for her acting future. Mark has to move forward from being exclusively an Eyebrow Actor (no, not Highbrow). He is a potent presence, but the moment lines have to be delivered, and emoting beyond the "intense stare" is required, he falters. Sandara’s perpetual "This is the Real Krungkrung Me" School of Acting is also in need of revision. I also wondered why with such veteran and tested artists playing the parents of our teenage superheroes, there were such listless performances submitted. The essence of a film such as this has to be the "over the top" quality of all the portrayals (See ZsaZsa Zaturnnah, which got a very deserved ‘A’ rating).

I think the kids will definitely enjoy the film, but for Quark to have turned this into his own Christopher Nolan/Bryan Singer definitive superhero film, we’ll have to wait and see if that’s achieved in the inevitable part two. Super Noypi certainly has the potential to become a successful "franchise film."