Desperate for Laughter

Go Girl! Girl Power!

Desperadas 2 is a not ingeniously made comedy film. The film tries to jest any possible in-joke or even tries to blend the vernacular with a twang of absurdity but it could not save the film from shame. Probably that’s the entire point of it. It has a ridiculous plot, executed in a tremendously sluggish manner. I could have laughed because of the misery of the shambled production, not due to the film’s hilarity.

The story is easy to follow through. There are four half-sisters, and all of them have chock-full of attitude problems. Courtney is played by the masa pleaser Marian Rivera. Her full-time problem is she dislikes having a baby despite being married to a not-so-hunky hunk husband Patrick (Will Devaughn). Isabella (Ruffa Gutierrez) is a matron who tries to control the career of her younger lover Vito (Jay-R). The suicidal Stephanie (Iza Calzado) is having a post-partum syndrome and picks a fight with everyone especially her husband Richard (TJ Trinidad). Patricia played by the wacky Rufa Mae Quinto gets troubled with her relationship with Congressman Fely played by Christian Vasquez.

Comparing all the characters, I personally think that Quinto’s character is adequately conveyed through the screen. Her trademark of dense humor will always be well-liked. But there is an extreme twist to the storyline. They have another half-sister who is played by Ogie Alcasid. She is Luga Luda, a tranny looking princess from the island of Kehwali in South Africa. She speaks gibberish but most of the time in an SMS way of conversing, I get the entire idea of it. Well, she is also desperate. She craves for twinks with an oblique carnivorous gusto.

Aside from their attitude which is compulsory in a way because of the film’s title, you can also see how women have discovered shopping for clothes and makeup makes them at ease. They smile throughout while sashaying in Bonifacio High Street. Not to mention that we are in a tropical country. They all looked glamorized under the unswerving heat of the sun. Despite their pathetic lives, they maintain a pretentious demeanor while they are strutting their stuff in public.

The technicalities for Desperadas 2 are nearing mediocrity. It looks rushed in most parts. Even dubbing is again evident with all the unsynchronized mouthing of words. Weaving the story of the dilemmas of these sisters looks nondescript. It appears to be sloppily written and the leverage for this kind of comedy is like the audience from the primordial times. It is not progressive at all. The comedy element in this film could not be defined even in various forms. It is opprobrious to the terms slapstick or burlesque for the dry humor it has given away.

I am sure that the lad paired with Luga Luda was ensorcelled. She has no redeeming loveliness in her. Despite the contrived goodness she has shown to her other sisters, we have to be reminded that she has carnivorous tendencies (literal sense) for crying out loud. And with the other women in this film, there is nothing that could be admired for their plight for being a free woman. It gives a negative light on womanhood and a shameful light on Filipino comedies especially to a jaundiced eye. There are other better comedy films than this. A film does not need any feministic concepts to make the film look pragmatic in context and superior in substance. Sometimes, it just causes a film to be very messy and hypocritical.


Charlie Koon's Rating: