Mulawin: The Movie

Mulawin: The Movie

Mulawin The Movie
Directed by	Dominic Zapata Mark Reyes
Produced by	Lily Monteverde (Regal Films) Annette Gozon-Abrogar(GMA Films)
Written by	Don Michael Perez
Starring	Richard Gutierrez Angel Locsin Sunshine Dizon Dennis Trillo Michael De Mesa For the complete cast, see below.
Music by	GMA Records
Cinematography	unknown
Editing by	unknown
Distributed by	Regal Films and GMA Films
Release date(s)	December 25, 2005
Running time	135 minutes
Language	Tagalog
Budget	PHP 80,000,000

Mulawin: The Movie is the film sequel to the Mulawin television series that was shown on GMA Network. The movie was released on December 25, 2005 and is produced by Regal Films and GMA Films in the Philippines. It is also an official entry to the 31st Metro Manila Film Festival.

Overview

Production

GMA Network hired international action choreographer Wong Wai Fai and other Hong Kong martial arts experts to make the stunts more realistic, the same team hired for fantasy-action TV series Sugo. Wong choreographed stunts in the highly successful movies such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Kung Fu Hustle, Rush Hour 2 and Bulletproof Monk.

Cast

Angel Locsin as Alwina
Richard Gutierrez as Aguiluz
Bianca King as Aviona
Michael De Mesa as Ravenum
Dennis Trillo as Gabriel
Iza Calzado as Amihan
Karylle as Alena
Valerie Concepcion as Danaya
Sunshine Dizon as Pirena
Dingdong Dantes as Ybarro/Ybrahim
Carmina Villaroel as Salimbay
Eddie Gutierrez as Dakila
Zoren Legaspi as Bagwis
Amy Austria-Ventura as Lourdes
Miguel Tanfelix as Pagaspas
Sam Bumatay as Lawiswis
Nicole Andersson as Langay
Paolo Contis as Banoy
Boy2 Quizon as Palong
Arthur Solinap as Muros
Dion Ignacio as Tayag

It was said that Robbie Tan of Seiko Films didn't allow his contract stars Diana Zubiri (Encantadia's Danaya) and Alfred Vargas (Encantadia's Aquil) to appear in the movie. Because of this, Valerie Concepcion played Danaya character in Mulawin: The Movie, while Aquil's character didn't appeared. Also, since the movie is a sequel, major characters such as Veronica/Vultra (played by Ara Mina) and Rasmus (played by Gary Estrada) who died in the TV series were not included in the movie version. New characters not in the TV series were also introduced in the movie.

Storyline

The spectacular film saga begins where the groundbreaking tele-fantasy ends... Aguiluz and Alwina's plan for a peaceful life as mortals is disrupted when their boat to the realm of man is caught in a violent storm. They wash up on separate shores, a young man and woman living without memories of who they are, and living separate lives. Aguiluz is adopted by a humble farmer and Alwina becomes the surrogate daughter of a wealthy family and is engaged to be married. But when Ravenum is resurrected by Pirena, his evil army wreaks havoc on Abila, threatening the survival of the entire Mulawin race. Their fate now hinges on the valor of two of its two greatest champions, Aguiluz and Alwina. But will remember who they are before it is too late?

Synopsis

Aguiluz and Alwina's plan for a peaceful life as mortals unravels when their boat to Tierra Fuego (the realm of man) is caught in a violent storm. They wash up on separate shores, a young man and woman living without memories and living separate lives. Aguiluz is adopted by a humble farmer and Alwina becomes the surrogate daughter of a wealthy family and is engaged to be married to Gabriel.

But a new period in the Mulawin saga unfolds as "Keeper of the Jewel of Fire", Sang'gre Pirena uses the gintong binhi to bring Ravenum back to life. Ravenum summons the dragon Buwarka and raises an army of Ravenas to wreak havoc on Avila, which barely survives the initial attack. With the power of Mulawin’s Tree of Life dwindling down and the Mulawin race in peril, the Diwatas and the Tres Aves (a legendary trio of heroes with special abilities) rush to aid the Mulawin. But ultimately, the fate of Avila and the Mulawin race now hinges on the valor of two of its two greatest champions, Aguiluz and Alwina. The Tres Aves faces the dragon "Buwarka",The Mulawins and the Encantadia's Lireo soldiers led by Ybbarro/Ybrahim faces the Ravenas and Aguiluz and Alwina faces Ravenum. The fight continues as Aguiluz and Alwina goes inside Ravenum's hideout. There they find Dakila and continues their journey. They continue a violent fight with the Ravenas and as they reach Ravenum, Aguiluz's mother (transformed from death) shows up with her husband, Ravenum. Ravenum then forces Aguiluz to transform into a Ravena and complete the family or else he will kill Alwina. Aguiluz agreed, to save the life of Alwina and their child. The Ravenas took away Alwina and Dakila, planning on beheading them. Aguiluz's body was too holy for the darkness because he was blessed and once again turns into a Mulawin. Dakila dies in the hands of the Ravenas and Alwina graviously cries. She returns to Aguiluz but their ugatpak's powers only works for nights. Aguiluz is stabbed by a sword behind. They make a way out of the hideout and at the end, killing Ravenum and comes also the death of Aguiluz. They return to Avila after a victory and a deadly battle. Aguiluz is seen lying in a royal bed in the kingdom of Lireo in Encantadia with Queen Amihan of Lireo putting the gintong binhi to his mouth that can get his life back. Alwina is then seen putting Dakila's ugatpak in the Mulawin's Tree of Life. The last part is Alwina and her son together flying with Aguiluz behind them.

Reaction

Mulawin The Movie grossed P 8,522,904 on its opening day (December 25) from over 80 screens around the Philippines. Regarding its overall gross as of December 28, there were conflicting box office reports, one of which stated that the fantasy has grossed P 15.0 million while another report states a higher P 19.5 million. While the figures are decent, Mulawin wasn't be able to recover its P 80 million budget.

At the end of January 7, 2006 the GMA-Regal joint project has an official finish at third place among all Metro Manila Film Festival entries in the box office. Mulawin has grossed a grand total of 57,761,882.

Because it did not gross enough to break even, speculation is rampant that GMA Films and Regal Films will release the film on video market within two months. There are also unconfirmed plans that GMA will sell both the television and movie version of Mulawin to interested networks in Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and India.

Criticisms and recognition

The Cinema Evaluation Board of the Philippines gave the movie the high A Rating, making it the only entry of the MMFF to receive such rating.

Mulawin the Movie is one of three fantasy films entered into the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF).

Though with an "A" rating, the movie receives criticisms as follows:

• A storyline that failed to justify events leading to some of the characters' disappearance (i.e. Lourdes, Gabriel and Pirena)
• A predictable storyline.
• Character inconsistencies.
• The transitions and scenes, as a consequence of the time limit, were hurried.
• Substandard special effects.

Mulawin The Movie did not win any award in the concluded Metro Manila Film Festival 2005 Awards Night.

Trivia

Chosen as one of the "Magic Seven" in the 2005 Metro Manila Film Festival   

Diana Zubiri, who played Danaya in the original TV series Engkantadia (2005) TV_ which is part of this movie, was prohibited by her mother studio, Seiko Films, to appear in this movie 

which is co-produced by its rival, Regal Films. The role went to Valerie Concepcion.

 

Aside from Diana Zubiri, Seiko producer Robbie Tan also did not allow his contract star Alfred Vargas to reprise his role as Aquil. The production decided not to utilize the Aquil's character anymore.  

Soundtracks  

"Ikaw Nga"
Performed by Southborder