Cebalord Very best movie i ever watch

Nonureva Really Surprised!

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

john son Manila kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story is written by Lopez Nepomuceno and directed by Tikoy aguiluz, It is an action movie which starred Jorge Estregan (Asiong), Carla Abellana (Angela), Philip Salvador (Policeman), Baron Geisler (Boy Toothpick), among others. Asiong Salonga is the husband of Angela. Even though he is too young to think of it, Asiong wants to rule Manila. But there is the group of Totoy Golem, who is the antagonist. The group of Totoy Golem got angry with Asiong because he stopped the illegal activities of the group. The group of Totoy Golem is known for illegal gambling and drugs. The group was paralyzed. One of the members of Totoy Golem's group was killed by Totoy Golem himself when he learned that the member was spreading the rumor that the group was afraid of Asiong.The setting of the story is in Tondo, Manila. The dialogue of the casts is so frightening. The audience think that the dialogue is only use in street-sides. The special effects of the movie is awesome. Actually, the movie was only a remake of the movie ''Asiong Salonga'' that happened in 1961. Some of the cast was very good in acting but the other cast was needs improvement for his/her acting.5/10

arjayac If you don't know who's Asiong yet and don't want to read his biography on the web, I won't spoil you. Just know that this movie is only based on him and not 100% real.First of all, I really feel bad for the Philippine Movie Industry. This film has won major movie awards locally and praised for all the wrong reasons. If you're really a fan of Hollywood blockbusters, you'll be disappointedFirst off: "Best in Cinematography". I'm 50/50 on this. There were good camera angles. But since it's in B&W, there were some scenes where I just would like to scream "Turn on the lights!" or "Open some windows!"."Best Editing". Nope. There was one scene where Asiong was crying while reading a letter. And then it cut to a love scene. And then back to him weeping. Editing of the Year, huh?"Best Director". There were a lot of talented actors in this film like John Regala, Baron Geisler, Ronnie Lazaro, Yul Servo, hell, even Ketchup Eusebio. But if you can't help the main character in his acting skills, you don't deserve to win this award. Which brings me to the next one..."Best Actor". I tried. I really tried. At first I was giving him a free pass because maybe it's just because the fight choreography sucked. But then I heard him speak/whisper. And ear excruciating dialog delivery. This man is a half older than the man he tries to portray. He looked like a 50 year old couch potato who tries to look for a 5 minute exercise on the shadow boxing scene. And in terms of facial expressions, he's the male Kristen Stewart of the Philippines. Note to producers: "Just because he portrayed Asiong 21 years ago, doesn't mean he should be him again"."Best Production Designer". The set was nostalgic. So maybe it really deserves this award. One thing that was funny though was that wooden tables became barricades in gun fights. Whoops!"Movie Musical Scorer of the Year". Nnnnnope. A lot of melodramatic music in the film even in parts where it doesn't need to be there. Totoy Golem playing pool had sad then terrifying music. He was trying to make a corner pocket dammit!"Best Supporting Actor". I say yes. And I do feel Baron Geisler deserves his own lead actor role in a Film Festival movie. I just feel bad for Ping Medina and Yul Servo. Wasted actors given ridiculous lines in the movie. My favorite worst few lines by a good actor: "Domeng.... Si Asiong... Si Totoy Golem... Si Erning..... Si Asiong."Did I mention that the direction/fight choreography was awful? Knife battles had a dramatic Samurai Battle ending. In one of the gun fights, Asiong blasts through a door in front of 5-10 armed men shooting at him and he just struts for a good 3 seconds before shooting somebody. During the stand off with Pepeng Hapon, about 10 shots were fired by each men and none hit. They were literally a few meters from each other. Near the end, a man gets shot in the arm and looked almost dying while Domeng gets shot in the shoulder and shrugs it off.All in all, you can't take this movie seriously. If you've reached all the way through this paragraph then you have been warned. Take a laugh every once in a while (especially on the bicycle drive by scene) while watching this and maybe it wouldn't be so bad.5/10

Eon Stevens When I first heard about this film, the first film which came to my mind was The Godfather (1972) and I got excited that I wanted the holidays to end so I could finally watch it. "Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story" is a really good film, though I hate to admit that it wasn't quite as satisfying as I thought it would be considering that they depicted the life of Asiong Salonga- the famous gang leader of Tondo back in the old days. The director, and everyone behind the film, probably wanted to capture how it feels and what it looks like living back in the late 40's and early 50's, that's why they chose to make the film black and white. I have to commend the brains behind that idea because they were able to relive what I call "The Old Days". Watching the actors shoot their guns and drive those vintage cars just blew me away and it was like almost as if I was actually in that place where it happened!I believe that without good actors, there can never be a great film. But there are always exception to the general rule. Looking at Jorge Estregan's acting skill, I think it was a mistake casting him as Asiong Salonga. Yes, we all know that he portrayed several antagonist characters in the past, but his experience, I'm afraid to say, just wasn't enough to make him fit for the role, thus, making him face humiliation from the audience. I also felt that his moves were stiff and the way he delivered his lines was not powerful enough to make everyone believe that he is Asiong Salonga. I was moved by Baron Geisler's performance, though. As an actor who portrayed famous antagonist characters on films and TV series as well, you can rest assured that he will never fail to deliver what is expected of him. Joko Diaz was good portraying a bad ass gang member, though there were times when I said to myself that: "He's just not as good as his father was". John Regala will always be John Regala- you'll hate him the moment you see him. That's just how good he is as an actor.The action scenes were almost perfect had it not been for Jorge's lousy acting. I found some scenes funny rather than exciting, moving, astonishing, and worthy of my praise. The scene that made a mark to me was the battle scene in the rain (you saw it in the trailer). It was so good I had to stop breathing for a second to savor that epic moment. Overall, the movie "Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story", though a bit short with good actors, is worth watching.

3xHCCH "Manila Kingpin" is a very good-looking movie. The remarkable black and white photography is very sharp and striking. The camera angles were very well-placed and dramatic in composition. The period costumes and set design were meticulously planned and paid attention to. All the supporting characters, from Asiong's policeman elder brother Doming (Phillip Salvador), his wife (Carla Abellana), his gang mates (Baron Geisler, Yul Servo, Dennis Padilla, Ketchup Eusebio and Amay Bisaya) to his arch rival Totoy Golem (John Regala), everyone looks and feels right for their respective parts. The action sequences, be they gun battles or fist fights, were quite well-choreographed and executed.However, the main problem about this film is the lead actor himself, Jeorge 'ER' Ejercito. He did not have the right look nor charisma to pull off this lead character. He tries his best, but there seemed to be difficulty to fit. He did not project well in his scenes with Salvador, Regala, as well as those with Jay Manalo, who played his protector in prison, all of whom can dominate the screen better than Estregan. His scenes with Abellana had an unfortunate DOM ("dirty old man") feel to them, instead of sincere marital love. These problems can be explained when it was revealed at the end that the real Asiong died at the young age of 27! Ejercito must be twice that age already by now, hence the very tight fit.Overall though, the hard work and sincere efforts for excellence can be felt while watching the film. Director Tikoy Aguiluz certainly seemed to have nothing to be ashamed of with this final print we saw in the theaters, so I am also very curious what these controversial re-shot and re-edited scenes were that caused him to want his name stricken off the project. My one suspicion would be the final gun battle-royale in the rain, which was very well shot, but was curiously scored with the slow version of "Mad World" of Tears for Fears. I felt this score was inappropriate and awkward to the time period and to the culture. An original Filipino sad melody would have been better. Anyway, that is only a minor quibbling observation. This film is worth watching especially for fans who miss traditional Filipino action films. It deserved all the awards given to it during the recent awards night -- Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Production Design, Editing, Sound, and Theme Song.