The Mommy Returns: Movie Review

It's Mother's Day today and obviously, "The Mommy returns" was released to coincide with this event. Unfortunately, if this was made to be a tribute to all of our mothers, then the film is a swindler, one that tricks and gets your money in exchange for literal garbage. To say "The Mommy Returns" is butt-ugly is already praising it because to be blunt, there's nothing good about it. Cinematography, production and story sucks but the acting and comedy even worse. "The Mommy Returns" is one of the worst films we have ever seen and we think it just affected our standards of what a rotten film is. Yep, it's that bad.

Ruby (Pokwang) and William (Gabby Concepcion) are celebrating their 25th anniversary when Ruby tragically dies. Ruby's soul, instead of going to heaven or hell, goes to purgatory. In purgatory, she witnesses her family's suffering and tribulations. Unfortunately for her, she also witnesses William falling in love and getting married to the sexy and beautiful Catherine (Ruffa Gutierrez). Ruby decides that she must do something to sabotage William and his new marriage by going back to the earthly realm and haunting her ex-husband and his new lover.

Amazingly, "The Mommy Returns" achieves one feat in our books. This feat is hard-to-do and rarely seen on the big screen. I think it's the first time we have seen a film do nothing right - from the smallest details like the camera focus being off to the bigger parts like characters and story. It literally shatters the concept of what a bad film is. First off, a lot of scenes are mind-numbing and filler material at best and it does not help that the film dragged on from start to finish. Scenes from the purgatory are probably the best examples. Second, the acting was just that bad. Ruffa Gutierrez never fazes to amaze us on why she is even an called an actress beyond her looks. Gabby Concepcion rubs off as uninspired and even Pokwang and John Lapus came off sour. Did the cast know that this was a bad film to begin with and felt that a trashy film deserved trashy performances? We would like to believe so. Third, the story lacked any compelling characters or development. The film trudges on without any sense. One day, William is crying because he misses his wife, the next day he is happy and giddy and decides he is in love with Catherine. Another example are the kids who hate Catherine to their core but things turn around when she brings the missing costume of one of the children. These things may be minor but they take the viewer off from the film and this haphazard storytelling happens the whole duration off the film.

But the biggest problem for the film is its comedy. Situations and punchlines fail to eke out any laughter or even a whimper. Everything comes out flat and corny. This is the film that never found its comedic groove and you have to see it (if you dare) to believe it. "The Mommy Returns" is a complete bust. There's no reason to watch it and there was no reason to make it. Avoid at all costs.

Rating: 0 reels





Why you should watch it:
- want to get a headache? Then watch this trash of a "tribute" to all of our mothers

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- comedy was non-existent
- the plot development was just plain stupid with endless continuity problems
- acting was subpar even for Pokwang