By NEIL RAMOS
We had qualms about “A Hard Day,” an action-thriller starring Dingdong Dantes and John Arcilla.
It is a remake after all and based on experience these things almost always fail and in a big way.
But director Law Fajardo, as with Dingdong and John, proved us wrong.
Their version of “A Hard Day” is as riveting as the original.
They made it even more exciting making it look and feel “local.”
Yes, it is very much a note-for-note recreation but it didn’t leave us fuming, bored, this, even if production actually retained even some of the more absurd scenes from the original.
Although I am among those who wished they tweaked it a bit, doing away with say, the checkpoint scene, something that even Batman wouldn’t be able to get away with in real life but, hey, that’s entertainment, right?
Note the original, released in 2014, was received quite well, with critics and the movie-going public one in saying it is among the best of its ilk.
This copy doesn’t disappoint.
I would even go far to add that Dingdong and John did better acting-wise as compared to their predecessors.
John, as usual, was magnificent. Sure, some might say his role in the movie is something he is already quite familiar with but he actually made it interesting and
fresh.
Dingdong is a revelation here. He is apt to gain more fans displaying enough aptitude playing an anti-hero.
Should we do more remakes? Well, if it is as good as this, why not?
Currently showing in cinemas as part of this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival, overall, “A Hard Day,” is definitely worth the watch.