User reviews

"Resiklo" (literally, "Recycle") certainly wouldn't be the worst film this side of the planet you'd see this time of the year. But any hope that this mega-budgeted movie (at least by Philippine standards) would enthrall will depend on how high you place your expectations as much as where you place them. This Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) entry offers a grand production design and decent CGI although the robots are only fun in small doses. Keep your expectations at bay and that may suffice to vindicate P120 off your pocket. But it's still a sad shadow of what could have been a terrifically tense Filipino sci-fi.

In 2021, the Earth is invaded by alien beings (Balangs) who then engage humankind into a worldwide war, destroying all the planet's natural resources in the process. In a post-apocalyptic Philippines, a band of survivors live in an undisclosed place they call "Paraiso," an underground society so hidden everyone else thinks it's a myth. Nevertheless, the people of this place fend themselves through their sheer ingenuity, using recycled scraps they regularly scavenge from the outside world for their basic necessities.

But eventually their hideout is located by the Mutanos, a group of beings who were once humans, but were converted by the Balangs into a superior mutated sentient. A chance encounter between Crisval (Bong Revilla), one of the residents of "Paraiso," and the son of the leader of the Mutanos leads to the death of the latter, and ignites the wrath of the Mutanos and wages a war against the humans.

The concept is actually fun but the perfunctory and predictable script, plus the embarrassingly wooden acting from Revilla limp this film right out of the door. Written and directed by Mark Reyes, "Resiklo" was supposedly pitched as an idea for a television series, but eventually landed onto the big screen courtesy of Senator Bong Revilla, who stars and co-produces. Reyes has a comparatively more coherent hold of the narrative this time than in "Mulawin: The Movie" two years back, but the rush to cover the expansive mythology shows through this anecdotal sort of a movie, following a number of characters from plot point to plot point but not offering a whole lot on the way of a sensible story. And the dialogues are written in dreadfully serious manners, it's hard not to force a groan when Revilla utters lines like "Overstaying na kayo, dapat na kayong i-deport (You should be deported for overstaying)!"

This leads to the film's biggest problem: it's boring. There's action scenes to be sure, but most of the film involves people walking around looking for scraps and faux-politicians talking about what they intend to do next to survive. The bland dramatic scenes then are punctuated by action scenes that are awkwardly edited and painfully lacking in the sort of visual detail that really makes them adrenaline-pumping. The movie's selling point of robots battling each other occur so short and so fast, and the rendering of the animation is at times so inorganic it's distracting. Personally, only one fight scene stands out and surprisingly it's that of Empress Schuck, where her blind character fights off Mutanos soldiers with her walking cane. Sexy.

Which makes you wish that the girl gets more butt-kicking screen time. Or maybe instead of playing a doctor (which takes a lot of time buying into), Michelle Madrigal were cast in the lead role wearing skimpy outfits, gunning the enemies out, ala Milla Jovovich. It wouldn't make the movie anymore logical, but it certainly would make it more interesting.

Oh well, what can I say, as someone who is involved in movie production, I keep a certain level of lenience when it comes to films that dares to be different with regards to how the story is told. If you strip a particular movie to its core, basically, its no different to any other movie out there, good or bad, Oscar winner or Razzie winner, its, like I said, how its told and that's the main thing that separates the good from the bad ones.

Going back to Resiklo, I must say it started out OK, the opening sequences were fine, though, that huge meteor looked so animated, but the succeeding sequences were good, especially the explosions on earth viewed from outer space. The whole movie starts to falter when we meet the protagonist, good ole' Sen. Bong Revilla, oh man, he's too old to be playing roles like this. So, we see him walking in this huge wasteland, supposedly caused by the alien invasion (which Im also assuming has happened a while back) and we see him in this weird attire yet his face looked like he just stepped out from the Senate. I mean, where is characterization here? Should you look at least, say, filthy, unshaven, haggard and stinking if your world was devastated? I'm sorry, but from the moment I saw him, it all went downhill for me. And as more as we get to know him, the less we feel empathy for him. The screenplay and direction was, pardon me for the word, inept. It was so conscious in making scenes stand out and polished that the director forgot how to organically weave all these scenes.

The supporting cast were lousy, especially his sons. Their acting was cliché and never really served any purpose to the movie. The only interesting character that came pretty close to convincing was Empress Schuck, but sadly hers was poorly developed. The only thing consistent was making the antagonist as less interesting and boring as the protagonist, at least in that regard, both were balanced.

The screenplay was laughable, and I had my loudest cackle when Sen. Bong says' "over-staying na kayo, dapat na kayong ideport!" What a line! The Christmas sub plot wasn't organically weaved into the story, Mark Reyes should've stayed on this subject, and it would've made the whole story interesting and relatable. That whole "singing/praying" montage was just for show and it felt an MTV that didn't belong to the movie.

As for the dull climax, well, there's nothing much to say, except that you know what will happen. I mean, there's a certain level of predictability in every movie, but how it takes its course is where the ingenuity of the storyteller comes into play.

Pros: The CG is quite decent and very good for Philippine movie standards. The designs are good and production value is quite high (again, going by Philippine movie standards). Although, the anime-style (exagerrated form over function) costume for the humans looks too tacky and doesn't work very well on the big screen. The robot fight scene was fun and looked great.

Cons: EXPOSITION, EXPOSITION, EXPOSITION. The director is a horrible storyteller and everything is done through exposition. The dialogue and acting will make you roll your eyes and cringe multiple times throughout. Poor character development, in fact a lot of the characters are unnecessary. Motivations for most characters aren't even expressed at all. Inconsistent tone. Comic relief scenes are scattered everywhere, all of them very corny.

Resiklo is a sci-fi flick about the future where aliens are enslaving humans, though not without some resistance. The plot involves resistance in the Philipines, where hero-type Commander Crisval is much feared and despised by the invaders. Part "Road Warrior", part "Transformers", part...eh, well a few other familiar movies came to mind while watching it, Resiklo is not bad for a Filipino movie, if you've seen many recently. The title, which means "recycle", seems to have ecological significance, but don't as me to explain. In spite of violent themes, this is basically a family movie, one the middle school boys might enjoy. While not up to American standards, the special effects are not bad. Some of the corniest aspects of the movie come from its desire to have "cool" dialog; this made the movie more entertaining, but not the way the producers had intended.

When I sat down to watch the 2023 action sci-fi movie "Transmutators", I figured that I was in for another grand mockbuster from The Asylum. However, this turned out not to be one such movie. And instead I found myself in for a Filipino attempt at an action sci-fi movie.

Director Mark A. Reyes delivered one of the worst movies I have stumbled upon in a long, long time. The movie's cover had nothing to do with the abysmal contents of the movie. The cover shows something that most clearly is a rip off of the "Transformers" movie, and thus I figured that it would be a mockbuster from The Asylum. But it turns out that "Transmutators" is actually a serious attempt at an action sci-fi from the Filipino cinema.

Now, I got nothing against the Filipino cinema in any way, but let's just be honest here, no one would ever believe that Filipino cinema would or could pull off a successful action sci-fi movie. And "Transmutators" looked like something from the 1990s, complete with laughable CGI, horrible special effects, and a script that was essentially just a dumpster fire.

To make matters worse, then I had the misfortune to sit through an English dubbed version of "Transmutators". And it is simply beyond my comprehension that the dubbing in 2023 is still as bad as it was back in the 70s. No one actually talks the way that the dubbing talents do; and I use the word "talents" very casually here. If anything, then the horrible dubbing in "Transmutators" just adds to the already mind-blowing cheese factor that director Mark A. Reyes's movie has.

Needless to say that I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble here. And I can't say that I was in the least bit impressed with the acting performances that I witnessed on the screen.

"Transmutators" is a cringeworthy movie in every aspect. And it is not even so bad that it becomes a fun movie to sit through. No, "Transmutators" from director Mark A. Reyes is just downright bad.

My rating of "Transmutators" lands on a one out of ten stars. Don't waste your time, money or effort on this particular movie; some of us did, so you don't have to. I would actually have preferred this to have been a mockbuster from The Asylum, as to the atrocity that it turned out to be.

Don't take yourself so seriously as an "IMDb movie critic" . Smoke up, have low expectations and enjoy it for what it is. The Filipino Flash Gordon meets The Matrix meets Star Wars on a 100k budget.

The scene where the kids crash the jeep off of the bridge at 5 MPH, was pure comedy gold. We had to rewind 10 times and EVERY single time we were brought to tears with laughter.

The scene where the aliens beam down Star Trek style is beyond hilarious.

Terrible plot, acting, terrible CGI, terrible voice dubbing, blatantly ripping off other movies etc.

I haven't laughed so hard at a ridiculously silly movie in a long while, and that's the point. It does not take itself seriously, neither should you.

2.9, really? I mean that is one of THE lowest scores I've ever seen for a movie here. I mean total trash and drivil gets rated higher than that.

Okay... this is no masterpiece. But, quite honestly, if you just take out some of the super Cheeeeezy dialog here and there, you actually have quite a fun Robot/Alien movie. Even the V effects I thought were quite good. Good stop motion on the robots, really good sets probably considering the money they had to work with. And, to be a 'Guy' (my apologies..) some really rather pretty girls if I may be allowed to say so. I think I fell in love with the blind girl, Lovely! : )

Anyway, with the real, genuine low budget garbage out there, how can this fairly competently made movie possibly be rated a 2.9? No way... And, I'm not one to be quite as forgiving for really low budget Cheeeezy movies as others are (I'm looking at you Leo 'Geek Legion of Doom') I honestly felt that for what this was that the filmmakers made a genuine effort to make a good film with an effective if simply story, good effects, and some really fun Robot/Alien action.

So, if you are a fan at all of somewhat low-budget Asian Sci Fi films that are made with some decent effort, and especially if like me you really dig some good Robot action, this movie truly has I feel a lot of fun, entertainment value and is FAR and above better than most of the REAL crap out there.

Due to the seriously egregious and completely unmerited low score, I gave this a generous '7' which for the way I rate films that means that for me personally it was a solid, fun watch.

I don't know what these jaded fools are expecting out there, like 'TRANSFORMERS' visual quality (this movie I thought was more entertaining than some of those multi-billion dollar Michael Bay travesties out there) but, graded by comparison to other similar movies, I would say that if you like this kind of Cheeeezy fun, but honestly done fairly well, there should be no reason at all that you shouldn't enjoy this one to some extent.

Transmutators, the latest masterpiece to grace the silver screen, is not merely a film; it's a transformative experience that transcends the boundaries of traditional cinema. In a landscape cluttered with transformer-themed movies, Transmutators doesn't just stand out-it alters the very fabric of the viewer's perspective, leaving a profound imprint on the way we perceive life and its possibilities.

At the forefront of this cinematic marvel is the spellbinding CGI that seamlessly weaves a tapestry of otherworldly wonders. The transformative sequences transcend the screen, beckoning viewers to reconsider the limits of imagination and the power of change. The meticulous attention to detail in every frame is a visual symphony that sparks a sense of awe, prompting audiences to embrace the idea that transformation is not only possible but a mesmerizing and beautiful force.

The stellar performances of the cast elevate Transmutators beyond the realm of entertainment and into the realm of profound reflection. The characters, brought to life by the actors' emotive prowess, serve as metaphors for the human experience-navigating change, embracing evolution, and discovering the extraordinary within. It's a reminder that, much like the characters on screen, we too can undergo remarkable transformations, breaking free from the mundane and embracing the extraordinary.

Now, let's turn our attention to the Transformers franchise, a series that pales in comparison to the profound impact of Transmutators. While the former may have introduced the concept of sentient machines in disguise, Transmutators goes a step further by unraveling a narrative that transcends the superficial. This film not only entertains but also invites viewers to contemplate the transformative potential within themselves, sparking a journey of self-discovery that extends beyond the theater walls.

As the credits roll, Transmutators leaves an indelible mark on the audience's consciousness. It challenges preconceptions and beckons viewers to consider the transformative power within their own lives. It's a rare cinematic gem that goes beyond the screen, encouraging audiences to embrace change, challenge norms, and view life as an ever-evolving adventure.

In conclusion, Transmutators is a tour de force in the world of cinema that goes beyond the ordinary. Its breathtaking CGI, compelling performances, and transformative narrative combine to create an experience that not only captivates but also inspires. Watching Transmutators is not just witnessing a film; it's embarking on a journey that will undoubtedly alter your view on life, leaving you with a renewed sense of wonder and a belief in the limitless possibilities that transformation can bring.

This Filipino Sci-Fi blockbuster uses the template set out by Hollywood. It's great to see so many elements employed in later films such as Avatar/District 9, used here on a small budget, but NOT small scale. The film is entertaining and had me gripped for the most part. It would seem that flawed CGI with a lot of effort is more interesting than flawless CGI. We get giant robot/mech-suit battles, aliens, and even a bicycle chase. That bicycle chase was more exciting that flying alien-raptor- birds. It mixes a bit of comedy/romance/emotion and is pretty successful. Sure, the dialogue and effects are at the same level as Power Ranger episodes, but if you like cheap and campy sci-fi, then Resiklo ain't too shoddy.

Have you ever wanted to see a film with perfect voice acting? The greatest cgi ever to hit the big screen? All the big A-list actors you have heard of? A story so easy to follow, even your youngest child will love it? If you said yes to one or more of these things, please watch any other film because you don't deserve to lay your eyes on the beauty that is transmutators, because that is a fat only deserving of those who have gone to hell, but like, a good hell. I didn't have to pay for this film but I still feel like I deserve a refund, wait I mean they deserve lots of money, watch this film. Maybe.

I recently had the pleasure of watching the mind-bending cinematic masterpiece called "Transmutators," and I can confidently say that it's a life-changing experience that had me laughing, crying, and questioning the very fabric of reality. This sci-fi extravaganza seamlessly blends humor, heart, and a dash of absurdity to create an unforgettable journey that left me utterly transfixed!

From the very first scene, "Transmutators" takes you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions, effortlessly blending hilarious moments with profound introspection. The performances are stellar, with each actor brilliantly bringing their characters to life. I was particularly mesmerized by the dynamic duo of Ted McLaughlin and Jane Hilarious, who delivered side-splitting comedic timing and heartfelt depth.

The plot itself is a delightful concoction of interdimensional hijinks and philosophical musings, with twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat. It had me pondering the true nature of existence while simultaneously cracking up at the cleverly written one-liners sprinkled throughout the movie. Trust me, you'll find yourself quoting them for days!

Adding to the sheer brilliance of "Transmutators" is the masterful use of laugh tracks. It's like having a personal audience in your living room, heightening the comedy and ensuring that every punchline lands with maximum impact. The infectious laughter from the tracks had me in stitches, transforming my living room into a comedy club!

This film not only entertained me but also had a profound impact on my perspective. "Transmutators" tackles themes of personal growth, embracing change, and the beauty of embracing the unknown. It reminded me that life is a cosmic dance, and we have the power to transmute our realities through laughter and embracing our own quirks.

In conclusion, "Transmutators" is a transcendent cinematic experience that will leave you rolling in the aisles, questioning the universe, and contemplating your own transformative journey. It's a hilarious, thought-provoking adventure that will make you laugh until your sides ache and ponder the mysteries of existence. Don't miss it-grab your popcorn, buckle up, and let the transmutation begin!

Sound of roaring laughter, accompanied by applause

Catchphrase: "Transmutators: Laughter that Transcends Reality!"

The time before I knew this movie was a lie. My life moving forward will be defined by the cinematic majesty of this film. If you don't watch this movie, you are missing out on a life changing experience. Once you bask in it's heavenly glory, you will never watch another film again. The action scenes are so good you will feel like you are really there. And the love story is more perfect than Twilight. I want to watch this movie until I die, and may my Heaven be Transmutator filled. Fatter Asian Brendan Fraser is the world's greatest actor and should win the Oscar for this electrifying performance. God bless the filmmakers.

Movie was fantastic and I really like how they showed their hard work through the cgi and acting. If you're looking for a good rip-off movie of transformers/star wars then I would recommend this movie. One thing I didn't like about this movie tho was how weird the storyline kept switching up throughout the movie. If you're dumb like me you would want to watch this movie but if you're not then you probably won't. Some people don't appreciate the effort people put into these movie, acting like they can do any better. Anyways I really do like this movie and please if you can give this movie a chance and go watch it.