Reviews

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  ★★★★★ review by Lady Allyson Dulnuan on Letterboxd

  Sige lang ng sige.

  There is a lot of lessons to be learned. And you learn them when you go back to your roots where it all began.

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  ★★★½ review by Dicot Alvarado on Letterboxd

  Hari ng Tondo tells the story of an old man on the verge of bankruptcy, who decides to go back to his old hometown with his grandchildren in an effort to find happiness for himself and for them.

  It is a very, very familiar movie. Throughout its runtime, the film basically goes through familiar plot points, characters, cliches and even contrivances-- some examples being the struggling artist, two instances of the kindhearted woman in an unhappy relationship with an asshole, the disapproving parent figures (who are so evil they might as well have handlebar mustaches and dark capes), an action climax that comes from almost nowhere, and so on and so forth.

  Yet, despite these numerous, mostly unoriginal elements, the film is surprisingly far from dull or taxing. The film is still able to find such joy in these characters and moments, just by making them as appealing and as charming as possible. The film presents a cheerful place and people who are truly worthy of sympathy and support. So, despite its numerous flaws, the film is nothing short of a crowd-pleaser, and is simply great fun. (Just be prepared to have a song really stuck in your head afterwards.)

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