If
you thought it was Grinchy when terrorists took over Nakatomi Plaza during the
annual holiday party in Die Hard,
wait till you see how these two hitman spend their yuletide. It will be a
sweaty, noir Christmas in Ato Bautista’s Expressway,
which screens during MoMA’s new film series, A New Golden Age: Contemporary Philippine Cinema.
In
the murky twilight world Ben and Morris inhabit, it is difficult to tell the
difference between the government and organized crime. They are assassins who
work for the “Colonel,” rubbing out honest cops and especially dishonest
crooks, who think they can get away with skimming a little off the top. The
world-weary Ben is sick of this line of work, but the young, sadistic Morris
quite enjoys it. The former intends to retire after completing their latest
batch of jobs, but these assignments will be particularly messy, in a
soul-killing kind of way.
The
fact that the aggressively talkative Morris never shuts up further sets Ben on
edge, but that is rather the idea. As they pursue their bloody business, it
becomes clear the two men share a secret connection. Ben also happens to know
their final target, so small world, isn’t it?
Hardboiled
crime just doesn’t get much darker than Expressway.
It is a lethally efficient hitman anti-buddy movie that proudly proclaims its
Tarantino influences with a visual hat-tip that should have fans howling in
their seats, like a pack of wild dingoes. However, sensitive viewers should be
warned the third act is amorally mean even by genre standards.
Regardless,
Alvin Anson and Aljur Abrenica give tour de force performances as the stylistic
opposites. Anson’s brooding Ben looks like a walking existential crisis,
whereas Abrenica’s Morris is so aggressively obnoxious (intentionally so),
viewers will be begging Ben to kill him after the first twenty minutes. Sparks
fly as they play off each other.
No comments:
Post a Comment