Hating Kapatid: Movie Review

"Hating Kapatid" promises to make you laugh endlessly. It also promises to be a tearful affair. Given the cast they have selected, the film indeed looks promising. Judy Ann Santos, Cherry Pie Picache and Gina Pareno are veterans of the industry. The three of them are pillars and have starred in numerous comedies and dramas throughout the years. "Hating Kapatid" also brings in fresh faces like Vice Ganda and Sarah Geronimo - in recent years, the latter has shown that she can act as well as she can sing. Truly, "Hating Kapatid" has the right elements to be a hit but great films are not handed on a silver platter. Read on to find out if "Hating Kapatid" was able to use all of its resources properly.

Rica (Judy Ann Santos) and Cecil (Sarah Geronimo) are sisters. At a very young age, their parents left them to go work abroad to make ends meet. They leave Rica and Cecil with their grandmother Gerty (Gina Pareno). Rica, being the elder sister, is tasked to take care of Cecil. As they grow up without parents, Rica becomes both the father and mother figure for Cecil. Rica eventually decides that she will give her whole life for her little sister's sake, even if it means leaving her most beloved Bong (JC de Vera). As Cecil graduates from college, the sister's parents finally decide to come home. Rica struggles to accept the parents she never had and the changes in Cecil's life that makes their relationship seem weaker.

"Hating Kapatid" is a blatant example why the local mainstream box office has been on a steep decline - it had weak material, it was completely rushed, it felt cheap all over and it did not help that it had fallen prey to its sponsors. What makes this movie so wrong is how greedy it became without offering much of anything to appease the viewer. All key elements in the film were mediocre. The plot had nothing new to present - you get the feeling that you have been there, done that. The movie was poorly-edited. Several times, conversations were cut midway. There were a lot of lighting inconsistencies and the musical score was atrocious. Honestly, with what we saw, even amateurs could do better with post production. It also had weak acting from most of the cast. The only saving grace is the trifecta of Vice Ganda, Gina Pareno and Cherry Pie Picache. In fairness, they made us laugh out loud. Without them, the movie would have been unbearable to watch.

What really irks our bone though is the haphazard way they showed their sponsors' products. The whole first half of the movie feels like little snippets of products being endorsed by Sarah Geronimo. Now if you don't see anything wrong with that then you have to go to a psychiatrist soon or you just don't care that you are paying hard-earned money to watch commercials you could have seen on the boob tube for free. To create a scene just for product placement is completely unacceptable. The film was very similar to the never-ending commercial segments being shown during a Manny Pacquiao fight. Local film outfits should realize that earnings should primarily come from the viewers and not from sponsors. The movie will get millions not because thousands will clamor to watch it but due to the countless product endorsements that take up whole segments of the film. Its sickening how some film outfits just sell their creative output to earn cash. For shame we say!

Rating: .5 reels





Why you should watch it:
- it had its share of laugh-out-loud moments with Vice Ganda, Cherry Pie Picache and Gina Pareno but that's about it

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- a film composed of endless adverts
- poor editing makes us wonder if even amateurs did the post production
- it has weak material to begin with

Do not forget that you can subscribe for FREE to our RSS Feed via Email

You can also follow us at our Twitter Account by clicking here

You can also add our site toolbar for FREE by clicking here