Action
cinema doesn’t get much grittier or zeitgeisty than this. At one point, the leader
of an organ trafficking ring suggests the current government in Manila would be
fine with them preying on poor slum-dwellers—and it is hard to argue with him.
However, Kray is pretty darned appalled. The under-appreciated stunt performer
and her punky friends will fight for their lives and the life of an innocent in
Richard Somes’ street-to-the-max We Will
Not Die Tonight (trailer
here),
which screens during the 2018 New York Asian Film Festival.
Even
though she is usually taken advantage of on-set, Kray still makes more money performing
stunt work than catering. She needs it for her ailing father, who was also a
stuntman during the run-and-gun Roger Corman glory years (but it took a toll on
his body). That is why she and the rest of her former juvenile delinquent gang are
willing to come together for a reunion gig arranged by their flaky leader
Ramil.
Of
course, everyone is slack-jawed shocked to learn Ramil’s old neighborhood pal
Bangkil wants them to kidnap kids off the street, so their organs can be
harvested. Even slimy Ramil wants no part of that, but Bangkil doesn’t take no
for an answer. So, Kray and her mates grab little Isabel, a missing girl currently
in the news and hide in an abandoned industrial building, where a spectacularly
bloody game of cat-and-mouse will play out.
Holy
cats, Somes really isn’t dorking around here. You will probably feel like getting
a tetanus shot after watching it. Frankly, Atomic
Blonde looks downright genteel in comparison, like afternoon tea and
crumpets.
If
you want yourself a feminist action figure than Kray will knock your socks off.
Previously known for squeaky clean rom-coms, Erich Gonzales completely explodes
her old image with her remarkably intense and unrelentingly physical
performance as Kray. Yet, she is not a super-woman. In fact, she shows
tremendous sensitivity and vulnerability. Max Eigenmann drastically plays
against type in a similar fashion as the every-punk-for-themselves Cheche.
Alex
Medina aptly portrays Ramil as too slick for his own good, but he is also totally
convincing as the walking wounded getting the heck sliced out of himself. Thou
Reyes and Nico Dans nicely round out the gang as the strongly delineated
Jonesky and Rene Boy. In contrast, most of the organ trafficking villains could
have had their sinister idiosyncrasies emphasized and exaggerated more.
Regardless,
the pedal-to-the-metal action and overpowering vision of urban anarchy will completely
hypnotize most viewers. Think of We Will
Not Die as the Filipino analog to Judgement
Night, if the early 1990s thriller had
more martial arts and less copping out. Even though it was only shot in eight
days, We Will Not Die represents some
truly virtuoso indie filmmaking on Somes’ part. Twenty years ago, it would have
sparked a bidding war among indie distributors, but it is doubtful the
surviving players can handle a film with this kind of naturalistic honesty and
pure genre menace. Highly recommended for grown-up action fans, We Will Not Die Tonight screens Friday
night (6/29) at the Walter Reade, as part of this year’s NYAFF.
