[Confession] Saving Sally (Official MMFF entry 2016)
It has been a life-long dream of any Filipino Animators to equalize - or at least catch up - to Japanese animation. Unbeknownst to many, Saving Sally Directed by Avid Liongoren, started making their dreams a reality 12 years ago.
Here is the synopsis of the movie:
In a typical teen film about love, monsters, and gadgets, Marty, an aspiring comic-book artist, secretly loves his gadget inventor best friend, Sally, and fantasizes of saving her from the big bad world.
Yes. 12 years ago. Imagine that?! How can the people behind Saving Sally be so dedicated and loyal when I can't even dedicate myself to stick to my 21-day diet plan? Tell me the secret please!!
Kidding aside, MMFF truly revamped the quality films they choose by adding another ingredient to the refreshing mix - a film so detail-oriented that brings live action and animation combined well, made for the big screen. Saving Sally wows a lot of its audience for creating a setting so accurate to the streets of Manila that it felt so strange yet so familiar. It also features a satire work, using monsters as masks implying the evil living in the limbs and roots of the society today. It is a great pleasure to brag this kind of movie because this came from the blood and tears of the Filipino team behind this film - especially the Art Department and Post Production people. I also appreciate Rhian Ramos for her portrayal of Sally and characterizing someone you'd really pity and want to save from the evil people.
The imagination and creativity flourished immensely in Saving Sally however we can't say it's perfect. I would like to cite that the animation may have been a success, but for me, the plot will always be thicker than the visuals. So, I'm glad that Saving Sally had this forethought of warning people to not expect much from the story as it promotes a very typical love story that everyone can relate to: Friendzoned. Ouch.
Aside from the very simple plot, I'm not fully used to a Filipino movie speaking English (or Taglish) in a film. I understood every part of it but I have this wishful thinking that some dialogues and expressions would have been better said in Tagalog. And the last thing I'm quite unsure about is Marty's acting. He's thoroughly transparent that he's new to acting. He suits well for the geeky and naive aspiring comic book artist by looks, but his acting is stable and unchanging. His cartoon version does better expressions than the actual Marty. Good thing he has the gut timing for jokes.
Overall, Saving Sally is a carat diamond that's been partly polished. It's a good film to be proud about for its animation and creativity but greatly lacks in story depth and affection. But if you're friendzoned right now, you might get a hint of faith through watching Saving Sally.
Watch now till January 10 in cinemas nationwide!
My Rating:
Plot: 6.0/10
Acting: 7.0/10
Cinematography: 9.0/10
Characters: 8.3/10
Uniqueness: 9.5/10
OVERALL RATING: 7.9