LITO LAPID AT COCO MARTIN
THERE’S something about action movies (particularly American, Chinese, Korean and Hindi) that catches our fancy. Kung pamimiliin nga kami ng genre, this type of films comes first to our liking.
Bollywood in India is fast catching up in terms of quality. Makapal din ang plot ng mga ito, medyo mas mahaba nga lang dahil may song-and-dance sequences pa interwoven in the story.
It occurs to us na mataas ang standards ng India sa pagpili ng mga artista. Not only can they act well, dapat ay marunong din silang sumayaw at kumanta.
Why this topic ay dahil balitang Senators Lito Lapid at Manny Pacquiao are cooking up a project, isang action film na tatampukan hindi lang nila, kundi kabilang pa sina Sen. Bong Revilla, his buddy Phillip Salvador, Robin Padilla, Coco Martin, including Senate President Tito Sotto, among others.
The nearest concept would be that of the film “Expendables” (whose parts ay wala kaming pinalampas. Each part was obviously expensive, palibhasa may paniniwala ang producer nito na kikita ang pelikula sa tindi pa lang ng cast, assembling Hollywood greats in the field of action.
Una naming narinig ang planong ito mula kay Monsour del Rosario (noong kasagsagan nitong May elections), himself an action star during his active years in showbiz.
Nais niyang mag-reunite ang mga kapwa niya action stars at their age now to see they still have to offer their audience.
With the joint Lapid-Pacquiao idea, however, kapansin-pansin lang ang tila pagiging odd man out ni Sotto who was never an action star but a comedian whose movies were not without his younger brother Vic and Joey de Leon.
Still, may kalalagyan si Sotto sa kuwento, say, a highest-ranking government official whose illegal activities or conspiracy with the terrorists ay maaaring maging papel niya. Mas mapaglalaruan nga ang character niya unlike his co-stars whose roles only differ in names.
The youngest being Coco ang napipisil na magdidirek ng mala-“Expendables” film na ito, himself already trained to do just that sa ginagawa niya sa kanyang FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano.
Pero bilang pinakabata rin, Coco needs to listen to his peers’ creative inputs. Out of respect man lang dahil mga berdaderong action star ang mga ito who came way ahead of him.
Sa tulad naming may penchant for action flicks (may mga makapigil-hiningang car chase, bombings and explosions, bloodshed and violence na kapasa-pasa lang sa censors) ay nae-excite na kami what the mala-local version would be like.
A first in history, mataas nga lang ang aming expectations of the would-be project considering the magnitude in terms of casting na hindi na kailanman mauulit pa unless there’s a sequel to it, or a high demand for it.
Budget seems to be of little concern as well. Kung si Pacman ang magpoprodyus nito, he’s more than willing to risk his money knowing it will come back to him a hundredfold.
Naiimadyin na namin ang pelikulang hindi tinipid o pinagkuriputan ng producer, making it at the very least slightly at par with the most foreign slambang movies.
‘Yun nga lang, remember that there are two chefs cooking up the dish: Lapid and Pacquiao. Not only would they bankroll the project, they will also star in it.
‘Di hamak na mas kakain ito ng kanilang oras kesa kina Revilla at Sotto. And what does this imply?
May convenient excuse sina Lapid at Pacquiao to slow down, if not slacken off pagdating sa kanilang trabaho sa Senado.
Imbes nga naman kasi BILL ang ipatupad para sa bayan, BILLING ang panahong pinaglalaanan.