The Kingdom (2024) – Piolo Rules, The Plot Crumbles

"The Kingdom" (2024)

Cast: Vic Sotto, Piolo Pascual, Sid Lucero, Sue Ramirez
Genre: Fantasy/Drama

The Yawn Meter: Struggled

Naalala ko nung nakita ko yung trailer nito last year sa MMFF sobrang na-excite ako. Ang ganda kasi nung premise na nilatag nila: Paano kung hindi tayo nasakop? Napaka-interesting nun. Pero upon watching it nadismaya ako kasi hindi pala siya ganun kalalim. It turned out to be more of a family drama conflict that just happened to take place in an alternate universe.

Ilang beses ako nag-pause and resume para lang tapusin yung pelikula. So technically nakatulog ako haha pero I will give a rating of Struggled. Hirap na hirap akong tapusin siya dahil ang laki ng expectation ko sa plot lalo na nung nasa kalagitnaan na. Sayang yung excitement ko.

The Breakdown

1. 🎭 Acting & Cast: [ 3 / 5 ]

Let’s get this out of the way: Piolo Pascual absolutely carried this film.

Kinilabutan ako dun sa eksena sa palasyo nung binalik niya si Dayang. Hands down ang layo ng quality ng acting niya sa mga kaeksena niya. Lahat ng nandun parang nasa theater acting na masyadong calculated yung galaw pero si Piolo siya talaga yung character niya. Ramdam ko yung sakit at galit at kung meron pang mas madidiin na adjectives to describe yung naparamdam niya yun na yun. Ang galing. Yung line niya na Ano ang silbi ng pagkakaisa kung paraan lang ito para may makaisa? was so strong and relevant.

On the other hand si Vic Sotto who plays Lakan Makisig lacked the intensity needed for a king. May mga scenes na hindi niya ma-deliver ng tama at kulang sa diin. Those scenes were crucial sana sa build up ng character niya. Best example yung may pinatay siya dahil pinatay yung anak niya. I felt the sadness pero kulang ng galit at gigil na ine-expect mo sa isang ama at hari na nawalan ng anak.

Sid Lucero was great as Magat true to his character as always kaso namatay agad. Sue Ramirez did okay in her role better than I expected. Kristine Reyes also so-so, she's on her typical roles. Happy to see Iza Calzado too kahit parang cameo lang yung role niya. The rest of the cast delivered sub-par performances na nagtutunog theatrical masyado. Siguro dahil na rin sa script kaya ganun ang delivery nila.

2. 🔊 Audiovisuals & Production: [ 2 / 5 ]

Nung umpisa I love how grand and realistic most of the scenes were. Yung sa court, sa senate, sa sabong, at yung mga protests nakita mo yung effort to make it look natural or close to true life. Yung props at clothing ng mga common tao were passable naman hindi excellent pero pwede na.

Kaso habang tumatagal parang paliit ng paliit yung mundo ng pelikula. Umabot sa point na sa court na lang lahat umikot. Wala naman sana akong problema dun pero parang minadali na yung execution. Nawala na masyado yung mga tao. For an event that concerns the national level parang ang onti ng crowd at ang sikip ng feeling. Nawala yung grand scale na pinakita nila nung una.

Idagdag mo pa yung CGI effects na nakakaiyak. Patatawarin ko sana kaso hindi naman advanced CGI ang kailangan sa mga transition scenes pero yung ibang elements like yung mga billboards at pangalan ng ospital sobrang halatang peke. Pang TV quality at low budget yung dating halata eh. Mas maganda pa ata CGI sa Enteng Kabisote movies. Sayang yung opportunity sana inayos yung editing sa mga low hanging fruits na ganun.

3. ✂️ Editing & Sequencing: [ 2 / 5 ]

Ang inconsistent ng language. Choice siguro ng writers na gumamit ng malalim na words pero hindi consistent kasi nagta-Taglish pa rin. Nagtutunog theater tuloy sila. Kung ang premise ay hindi tayo nasakop dapat hindi nag-evolve yung language natin into Taglish. Sana nag-consult sila sa linguist or maybe used Bisaya as a widespread language para maiba kasi isa yun sa possibilities kung hindi tayo nasakop ng Tagalog-centric colonizers.

Isa pang malaking butas na napansin ko: Bakit Felipe pangalan nung bata? That is a Spanish name. Kung hindi tayo nasakop bakit tayo gagamit ng pangalang Espanyol? Major oversight ito sa world building.

Yung fight scenes din nila Lakan at Sulo hindi convincing. Sa tikas ni Sulo I don’t think Lakan stands a chance. Kung gusto nilang ipakita na kaya lumaban ni Lakan sana ginawa nilang mas believable yung choreography.

4. 📜 Plot & Direction: [ 2.5 / 5 ]

Nasasayangan ako sa plot. It was very promising especially for someone interested in alternate history topics pero naging family drama lang siya.

Ang naging problema ko is the scope was so huge pero hindi maka-catch up ang production. Ang daming inconsistencies. National level yung conflict kasi King of the entire country si Lakan pero ang liit ng feeling ng execution. Sana binabaan na lang nila yung scope like sa level ng province or city para mas manageable at pulido. Naging parang teleserye style siya sa bandang huli.

In fairness ang gaganda ng revelations. Yung slow reveal about sa history ni Sulo at Lakan was done beautifully in my opinion. Yung kay Dayang matimyas was just so-so.

FINAL VERDICT 🎬

"A wasted concept saved only by Piolo's performance."

The Kingdom had a goldmine of a concept but failed to execute it properly. Instead of a deep dive into an uncolonized Philippines we got a localized family drama with inconsistent world building and subpar CGI.

While Piolo Pascual delivers a spine-chilling and award-worthy performance it isn't enough to hide the lack of intensity from the other lead and the confused direction of the film. Sayang yung potential ng kwento at production.

OVERALL RATING: 2.4 / 5 ⭐️