Bangis

This Philippine variation on Predator is even more macho than the original, though rather in an embarrassing and timid way akin to a high-school locker room. It also scores points with its unexpected use of wu-xia elements, toilet humour, a wet t-shirt contest and heaps of action. The movie’s commando manages to raze two insurgent camps to the ground and another one is crushed by the monster itself. Though Bangis cannot be compared to the American classic in terms of craftsmanship and the professionalism of production, it playfully offsets that with unbridled explosiveness, clichéd characters, guileless naïveté and trashy visual bombast. In addition to that, instead of an invisible hunter lying in wait for humans among the trees, this one hunts underground like a mole and has an even more powerful laser cannon. (30.01.2021)