Heneral Luna opens claiming that this is a fictionalized biopic of one of Philippine's

most important historical figures, Antonio Luna, for the sake of getting the modern
audience into the history's bigger picture. In spite of being more intense and
surprisingly humorous, the movie stays loyal to what this figure truly stands for. The
war is brutal, over-the-top to bring up for visual flare, and their serious situations
being often treated as sincere satires. How the film executed these ideas are just
brilliant, it gets larger-than-life without feeling outlandish, towards the heart of
defending the nation worth fighting for.

The film is all about justifying their quote about the real enemy of this war is
themselves. Although we see warfare with both the Philippine and American army
attacking each other, this battle is basically the secondary concern here. The real
detail of this war is how many soldiers chickening out from the battlefield and some
officials wanted to work with the Americans. But of course, their real goal is
independence; the movie makes a punchline out of those who aren't helping out,
those who are just running away and those who are just isn't fond of Luna's
aggressiveness. The film doesn't glamorize the character of Luna, either. Though his
intentions are right, his rage could get out of hand which puts most of them off. But
that also indicate that winning this revolution deserves more discipline than what they
got.

Back to the fact that this is taken a lot out of creative liberties, the movie fills this
history with vast amount of sense of humor and violent panache. The violence is,
again, over-the-top. At times it gets pretty symbolical, specifically the climax. The
humor is clearly just satirizing to those characters who aren't being helpful and those
who are afraid of facing Luna's rage once more. And when it's not trying to pull off any
sense of levity, we just get to see the story flesh itself out more in the sidelines of its
history and other characters.

The filmmaking is stunning, slick and stylish. The production looks pretty neat. The
movie is paced nicely even at times it's layered to different events, but puts itself
together consistently. The acting is beyond impressive; specifically John Arcilla as
Antonio Luna. He brings a genuine humanity, and at the same time, a really
compelling sense of madness, which terrifically lives up to the complexity of its
subject. The supporting also lends real gravity and even delight on screen, but it's
Arcilla's show and that's more than enough of a worth seeing performance through
out.

Maybe some quibbles I could point out; maybe how the enemies are portrayed felt like
they're written to be campy villains and maybe just one punchline in the film that felt
like it belongs to a comedy skit. But again, these are quibbles and they can be
debunked, even by myself. The former can be forgiven since they're technically not
the main villains of this ordeal, while the latter is just a single scene and obviously
designed to keep shaming the cowards at the battlefield. Anything else, there is so
much to love in Heneral Luna. It's great, not only because it's humorous and visually
interesting, but it's also a two-sided argument towards its history, not based on
praising, but actually by criticism. Yes, this is a war movie that gets brutal, but the
movie focuses on a meatier and more challenging side of the ordeal. And it pokes fun
at some unwise decisions the people behind this war make, but what matters is the
intention of its subject unable to die while he's still standing. Otherwise, it's just an
ultimately entertaining film that exceeds expectations. Truly recommended.

Set in the war between Americans and Filipinos. The Americans are invading the
Philippines until the Filipinos give up, this includes killing the lives of the innocent.
The Philippine Government are conducting a plan while many want to negotiate for
better profit. General Luna is there to stop the greed and focus and prioritize the state
of the nation.

General Antonio Luna is infamous, mad, unafraid, furious and above all cares for his
family, fellow-soldiers and country men. He will stop at nothing until he accomplish
his mission of giving freedom to his country. He disciplines and trains the soldiers into
making them independent and not some slackers or cowards within the war. He
removes all the corrupted he can find. Inspiration is key and that's what he wants to
show to all his soldiers.

In the end, the face of the real enemy is revealed. It's one of his own. Savagely killed
by his own country-men. Showing No Mercy to a man who only wants what's better
for the whole country.

I love the exposure shown to what the message was. It had many symbolisms and
morals one might enjoy learning. John Arcilla really turns into the character he's
portraying, he even looks like him. The effects use was really brutal, the sound was
pretty great to and the cinematography had very beautiful shots and lightning in some
scenes. The comedy present was a nice addition to the film and making it more
entertaining to watch. The direction by Jerrold Tarog shines on how careful the actors
give their performances. The script is rich with very detailed and fun lines of
entertainment.

I will say that this film is not propaganda, it's not bragging of which country is better,
it's does not promote blind nationalism. It's more on what's present and
understandable with the value of claiming responsibility. It does not send you the
message of "This film makes me shameful and filling me guilt you into liking it.". It's
better if you understand your reflections.