I always had a fondness for the 80s films of Da King, Fernando Poe Jr., movies like Batas Sa Aking Kamay, Gawa Na Ang Bala Na Papatay Sa 'Yo, Agila Ng Maynila and to a lesser extent, Kapag Puno Na Ang Salop, were action flicks that defined the image of the legendary Filipino action star as this gritty hero of the oppressed. In these films, FPJ is an amalgamation of Harry Callahan, Paul Kersey and one of those classic cowboy characters played by John Wayne. Arguably, FPJ's last decent movie was the 1992 biopic Lakay; such a statement may seem arrogant to diehard fans of the iconic actor but taking off the rose colored glasses of fanboyism, a more critical view is in order.
1997's "Ang Probinsyano" represents the latter part of FPJ's filmography and shows what is wrong with the thespian's choice of roles and a seeming complacency during this stage in his career. The movie employs the formula set by Moviestars Productions, a very commercially oriented film studio; a generic script, less defined characterizations, a middling tone and drab/dull approach to visual storytelling. Fair enough, the movie has an interesting premise: cop who lives in the mountains visits the capital to impersonate his identical twin brother who was murdered in a buy bust operation. The first few minutes of the film devotes itself to the other brother's character named Ador and here the film fails to exploit the opportunity of showing distinction and contrasts between the two characters. There is virtually no difference in FPJ's interpretation of Ador and his handling of the role of Kardo which means there is no fun to be had here unlike in Ronnie Ricketts' dual roles in Dalawa Man Ang Buhay Mo, Pagsasabayin Ko or in Chow Yuen Fat's clear delineation in Mark and Ken Gor's personality from the two A Better Tomorrow films (Though in Chow Yuen's case, Ken is merely a more cheerful and upbeat version of Mark). To be fair to FPJ, he is indeed a very limited actor and one shouldn't expect Robert De Niro or Al Pacino levels of acting from him though he does convey at times, hints of depth, sensitivity and subtlety in a few of his performances (see films I've mentioned in first paragraph). But as it happens, his performance as Kardo is very one dimensional and the role is just a variation of the same character he's played for like the better part of his career.
The script for the film also isn't very good with its stilted dialogue, unrealistic situations and a sense of artificiality. FPJ's scenes with a younger actress is somewhat off-putting as it unfortunately emphasized the actor's age, instead of conveying a sense of romance. The writers of the film could've at least, tailor made the story to fit with FPJ's circumstances at this point in time. Clint Eastwood as reference did not feel the need to be paired with a woman several decades his junior in the film Grand Torino and this worked well for that movie. A more senior actress like Marissa Delgado, Elizabeth Oropesa or Tessie Tomas as Da King's leading lady would've been more convincing to audiences than the forced May December affair shown in the film. This is not to say that such unorthodox pairings don't happen in real life (some young women actually prefer older men perhaps because of unresolved daddy issues) but this is a movie for God's sake; what is ideal and good for the script should be shown, not what is good for the ego. The scene introducing the character of Cardo Dalisay is another specific sequence which could've used a little more touch up. As the film's director, FPJ had obviously previously watched Robert Rodriguez's Desperado because the scene evidently is inspired by a sequence from that Antonio Banderas starrer. What distinguishes the scene from Rodriguez's film though is the copious use of fake blood, making the gunplay really stand out. The sequence in FPJ's movie had no fake blood, greatly lessening the impact of the scene; not to mention that FPJ brandishing handguns like Chow Yuen Fat isn't really my cup of tea. The final shootout scene from FPJ's movie Daniel Bartolo Ng Sapang Bato is much more memorable as not only did it have the necessary blood effects but also FPJ looks fantastic in that film and didn't feel the need to copy John Woo style gunplay (said film was released in the early 80s while A Better Tomorrow would be shown some 4 or 5 years later).
It also doesn't help that FPJ looks tired or half asleep during the entirety of the film's running time. He resembles Jean Claude Van Damme in the Belgian actor's direct to video movies; clearly, this isn't the same guy who decimated an entire private army in Kapag Puno Na Ang Salop or used double action ammo to cut off a goon's arm in Willy Milan's Gawa Na Ang Bala Na Papatay Sa'Yo. Sure, FPJ's looming seniority starts to show in those films but he still was in possession of the spark, he was still a butt kickin' badass. In this movie though, it seems somebody drained him of his mojo. Not to mention that FPJ's tried and tested formula in making a movie is obviously exhausted and worn out by this point. This movie simply recycled the template used in Muslim .357 and Agila Ng Maynila but to less effective results. Quite obviously, FPJ needed fresh ideas and new concepts in the era of mediocrity and government meddling in the cinematic arts. It would have helped if he tried and experimented with other roles such as that of a priest or a judge but alas, all that is now just water under the bridge.
As an aside, this film is the direct inspiration for a local major network's high rating soap opera, the longest running comedy program, "FPJ's Ang Probinsyano". Fans of the tv show are declaring that its lead actor, Coco Martin is the new "action star" of this age, mirroring the likes of Robin Padilla, Rudy Fernandez and even FPJ. Such a ridiculous claim is of course pure BS because those three I've just mentioned are not only tough guys on the big screen but also badasses in real life; Martin on the other hand is not a badass, not onscreen nor in real life but merely a media hyped poser. There's this rumor that he and another network employee Mateo Guidocelli slugged it out over an actress one time but the only person I imagine Martin brawling with is his manicurist. His tv show sucks ass and is an eyesore with the corny close ups and those butt ugly rappers. For the love of God, put an end to the f-cking idiotic tv show already.
To conclude, FPJ's film doesn't rise from the mediocrity of his other 90s output (With the exception of maybe Mabuting Kaibigan, Masamang Kaaway, Lakay and Batas Ng .45). The rest as they say is history.
