Sigue-Sigue Brothers

This archaic film by the underrated Jun Gallardo is a venerable classic among Filipino hard action devotees. Gallardo's 1985 ouvre is a masterful concoction of expertly choreographed fight sequences and imaginative storytelling.

The movie is the holy grail of gritty street style brawling and this is no exaggeration. The fight scenes in the movie would make Baldo Marro and Val Iglesias run to their respective banks and withdraw their entire life savings. Joking aside, this is the real deal and I regret not picking this up on my radar much earlier. Anyways, a big kudos goes to the guy who unearthed and uploaded this for our viewing pleasure.

For starters, the fighting in the movie is brutal, vicious and not for the faint hearted. It is a true work of art and has elevated this essential cornerstone of action films to a new high standard (for Filipino action movies, at least). The fights were choreographed by a virtual unknown named Larry Esguerra whose work is arguably the apex in the evolution of cinematic fighting in Philippine movies (Picture a chart tracing the fights in the first FPJ movie to the flashy fighting in a Lito Lapid flick to Gallardo's film and then to the early 90s choreography of Marro/Iglesias and you get the idea). It's rare for a Filipino action film to build its appeal mainly on the fights alone but this is one of those few instances where the gunfights take a backseat in order for the fighting to be prominently displayed in all its naked savagery (though a lot of late 70s and early 80s Ace Vergel and Rudy Fernandez films do show more fight scenes than gunfights, because obviously it's cheaper that way). This doesn't mean that there's no gunfight in the film; the big shootout is reserved for the final set piece (an average and not really earth shaking affair).

Bringing the movie to life are the three O. G. badasses Rhene Imperial, Bembol Roco and Efren "Maskarado" Reyes Jr. Their characters are written as relatable and realistic; the typical "everyman". The protagonists are not the stereotypical cardboard cutouts in a generic action film; they don't go out of their way to pick fights and will only slug it out when forced or when there's a valid and legitimate motivation to do so. Imperial's performance as the horny elder sibling, whose untempered libidinal attachment to his bombshell wife will later be used against him by his enemy, is notable for its endearing simplicity and is a lesson in commendable subdued acting. Many will of course point out his resemblance to ex-president Joseph Estrada but in the film, he figures a way to stand out, away from the shadow of "Erap". Meanwhile, Roco never fails to impress fans with his minimalist acting style and commanding presence. In the film, the bald headed actor shows admirable and judicious restraint in essaying the role of an unassuming mechanic; needless to say that Roco with his shaved dome, looks positively convincing as a gangbanger (though in a pretty funny scene, he used his head as a sort of bowling ball to ram into the belly of an inmate; one of the ingenious instances of humor in the film). Last but not least, Reyes Jr.'s role in the film is that of a slacker/college student; a fun loving youth who gets more than his fair share of fistfights and rumbles. Left with no choice but to play villainous roles in the early 90s, few people realize that the thespian played the protagonist in an 80s movie called Maskarado as a Filipino version of Zorro (He did make a solo movie during the 90s by acclaimed comedy director Dante Pangilinan called "Nestor Solis" but it was a worthless, useless waste of film).

The film though doesn't get a perfect score because of its less than satisfying third act. Before this, the movie was fairly unpredictable with the viewer anxiously awaiting what happens next with baited breath. But the filmmakers unfortunately decide to wrap up the film on a more pedestrian note by way of a mediocre gunfight. Also, the fights become less entertaining and creative as the movie draws to its finale; the escape from prison sequence wasn't really that suspenseful or attention grabbing. A more imaginative method to close the film is by staging a bigger prison riot scene (than the previous) and have the boss bad guy end up in the same prison cellblock as the protagonists (where Imperial's character would fight him mano a mano); in this way, it would've been a much more interesting turn of events than the shootout inside a mansion. Another better plot twist to conclude the story is if the two warring prison gangs decide to pit their respective champions in a fight to the finish. Which would have upped the unpredictability factor.

In conclusion, Sigue Sigue Brothers is an original and hard hitting film (pun intended). It is unique for making the fighting itself the centerpiece of the film and not just one of the side attractions.