The rule "Don't judge a book by its cover" cannot apply in FPJ's "Alamat ng Lawin". For it is as silly as its poster, which resembles Carlo J. Caparas films. Just from the poster, you can see that the horns of one of the demon characters were Halloween pussycat horns which can be bought from local Toy Shops for less than 50 pesos. Maybe the costume designer had just one afternoon to prepare.
This film is as funny as it is stupid. It followed the typical Tagalog film which, regardless if it was an action-fantasy, it still had to have a musical sequence. I cannot understand why we have to make our films look like Bollywood movies. The story follows the adventure of 4 typical kids who find themselves hurled into a different world. A world filled with evil creatures that roamed the land. Not until they become heroes that would aid in the victory of the main hero, Lawin, played by Fernando Poe Jr. In doing so, the four kids become heroes themselves. Who later turn into the Philippine flag that endowed powers to Lawin to ensure his success. When this happened, our crowd burst into laughter with how immensely silly the scene was.
Yes, the film is one big stupid movie that would make you laugh aloud. The world of Lawin never made sense as to why there are these evil creatures, and why our heroes just suddenly found themselves atop the chocolate hills of Bohol singing "Mga Kababayan Ko". All the costumes were laughable. The masks were obvious as to take note that whenever they talk, their mouths do not move according to speech. It is interesting to note how all these fantasy movies seem to be made in spirit of the fad that Lord of the Rings has been making. The sequences never made sense. It was laughable when they were serious, and irritating when they tried to make us laugh. Even the sword of Lawin looked like it was just some plastic toy sword, and made a ridiculous sound effect that sounds exactly like the kumukutitap of the Happy toothpaste commercial. It is stupid of FPJ to make an awful film if he thinks that Pinoy standards of film appreciation is as low as he sees it to be, he is awfully wrong.
If you can find humor in really REALLY AWFUL movies, this is the film for you.
