My first impression of this movie was not good but on a second viewing, I realized that I was too harsh with my critique. It's actually a very entertaining film if we just simply enjoy it and not get hung up or nitpick the film's minor shortcomings.
On a technical level, Tikoy Agiluz's Manila Kingpin is quite impressive. The production, cinematography, lighting, sound and music are top notch for a local film and could rival the quality of foreign entries to Canne and Sundance. The script is also commendable as it didn't drag and did not waste time on superfluous melodrama or other elements that ruin a movie's pacing. Kudos to the cast as they all turned out excellent performances, from Ronnie Lazaro (who was great as the thug Boy Zapanta), Ketchup Eusebio (who's scene in the epic gunfight finale is undoubtedly "cool" and badass) and even Amay Bisaya was highly believable and competent in his role. The late Roldan Aquino makes an appearance as a corrupt police chief and he also once played the character of Totoy Golem in Leonardo Garcia's Canary Brothers Ng Tondo. This version's Golem is gleefully acted by John Regala who easily dominates every scene he's in. Jay Manalo plays a convict and like Aquino, he once essayed the role of a Tondo gangster, and also as Asiong Salonga in that unfortunately stupid film by quack director Dante Pangilinan. Baron Geisler won a much deserved best supporting actor award because his Erning Toothpick is the best version of the character.
Asiong is played here by Jorge Estregan and I think I was too judgmental about the guy on my first viewing of the movie. I now believe that he turned out a fantastic performance as the classic uber mafioso of Tondo. There are some stuff here though that he recycled from his past films, notably his scene of angst in the isolation cell is lifted from Mr. Pangilinan's Sigue Sigue Vs. Oxo. There are some who whine about E. R. Ejercito's lack of athleticism and physical fitness in playing a 27 year old dude since the politician and actor is visibly thick on the sides but it's not really detrimental to one's enjoyment of the film. Just think that this Asiong Salonga and the events that take place here are from an alternate universe where 27 year old gang leaders look like Droopy.
Tikoy Agiluz's handling of the material is excellent; you could actually feel that this is post World War II Tondo in how every scene is meticulously shot and staged, to recreate the fifties era look. There are a few sequences that were better in Ejercito's other Asiong movie, Hari Ng Tondo, for example the fight scene in the prison infirmary is superior whereas in Agiluz's film, it was removed and replaced by a knife fight. Agiluz wanted to delete his name from the film credits because of a few restaged sequences which is somewhat understandable. The inclusion of John Woo style pistol firing is obviously one of these reshoots which made a few of the gunfights less realistic. The fight between Totoy and Asiong looked pathetic because it felt like tired, middle aged men having a fisticuff. The knife fight though between Asiong and Zapanta was actually good but the "samurai" method in which Asiong dispatches the latter is a bit on the corny side.
All in all, this is a masterful work. Too bad, it didn't usher a revival of the Filipino action genre as was hoped.
