Urduja Movie Review

When I first watched the trailer of Urduja together with the movie "Horton Hears A Who", I really found it hard to believe that Filipinos can actually go this far. I was amazed by the two-dimensional graphics. If only the characters didn't speak in the trailer, I would actually thought it was another Disney flick. I really wanted to watch the movie, because despite of my age, I am still an animation lover. When the movie first came out, I asked my parents and brother if we can watch it. Sadly, my parents are not fond of animated films and my brother hates Tagalog movies. I also don't want to watch a movie alone, and I'm ashamed to invite my friends to watch it because they might think I'm baduy. But then, I was lucky enough that we were given an assignment to make a reaction paper regarding the movie. Because of that, I was able to convince my mother to accompany me to watch it.

What I loved most about the movie was the scenery of the setting. It really gives you a feel of how our ancestors lived during their time, and how they survived without the use of technology. It makes you feel as if you're really one of them.

The movie, though, has more negative sides. The girl Urduja looks like a rip-off from Mulan with her costume designs stolen from Pocahontas and Anastasia. The scene where she sang that song after her father requested her to marry the man she despises reminded me of the scenes where Mulan (voiced by Lea Salonga) sings "Reflection". Everything else looks so Disney. Colonial mentality is working in the veins of the Filipino artists as usual. There are also some very cheesy parts that I have to laugh sarcastically. Two of the characters even mentioned the words "H.H.W.W." (which means, "holding hands while walking") and "ewww!". I mean, those words were not recognized during that time. It would be better if they just made the dialog realistic.

Despite these flaws, I am happy that the Filipino animators are speeding up. They just need to make some improvements and I can see there will be Disney-like companies and productions in the Philippines in the near future.