Kmuse & Clkytta continue their foray into reviewing Filipino movies with their next pick She’s Dating the Gangster.  Come hear their thoughts about cute OTPs (One True Pairings) & unexpected plot twists.

*SYNOPSIS:

Athena Dizon plays a trick on campus heartthrob and bad boy, gangster, Kenji de los Reyes. Which leads to an arrangement to pretend to be lovers in order to make Kenji’s ex-girlfriend jealous.  Soon they find themselves falling for each other while life tries to tear them apart.

CAST:

Daniel Padilla – Kenji/Kenneth

Kathryn Bernardo – Athena/Kelay

TRAILER:

 

WARNING: MOVIE SPOILERS AHEAD

Cinematography:

KMUSE:When we are discussing Cinematography I think we should discuss the character’s styling instead. There really hasn’t been a ton to say about the directing since all the shows are standard rom-com filming. But the clothing and hairstyles are always unique.

KMUSE: There was an overwhelming amount of late 80’s early 90’s styles all meshed together in this movie. And when I say overwhelming, I literally mean overwhelming. My eyes did not know what to focus on. Despite the bright clothes, Kathryn & Daniel’s chemistry shines through.

CLKYTTA: Ok, I was a teen in the 90s and I don’t remember half these looks. I do want to give a shout out to Athena’s makeover hair though, I had a lot of friends with that cut.  I had a really hard time with the train wreck of clothing choices though, it was pretty obvious that someone who wasn’t a teen in the 90s picked the costumes.

The Plot:

KMUSE: I was so conflicted. Anytime our OTP (both the modern and past versions) came on screen I was totally enthralled. These two can do no wrong when it comes to adorable romantic hijinks. But then the actual plot of the movie crashed back into focus when they were not being all couplish and I was not overly happy. I was not a fan of the whole tragic illness plot twist. Not to mention, the ex girlfriend illness aspect pissed me off even more. I wish that if they had to separate that it was for a better reason than Kenji’s original girlfriend having cancer and wanting him back to be an emotional support. Very very lame.

CLKYTTA: I detested the plot.  These two (couple from the past) took noble idiocy to a whole new level. I know a drama needs a little angst, but this part of the story totally lost me. It made zero sense to have both love interests be sick.  The only positive was that the OTP oozes chemistry and they carried this movie through all the bad plot points and crazy clothes.

KMUSE: I was also not a fan of the dual timelines. I personally don’t think it needed it. Not to mention I was not happy that we only got our happy ever after with the modern couple. It kind of reminds me of those romances where the true love doesn’t happen and they die alone only for some future reincarnated versions to find love. Except, this wasn’t even a real reincarnated version of our OTP. It just doesn’t work for me.

CLKYTTA: Still fuming about the past love story, if they had given ex-girlfriend Athena even a smidgen of a redeeming story arc before throwing the whole cancer ball at us I could believe in him staying with her.  I liked our modern couple a lot, and honestly if they had just used a few select flashbacks instead of the whole dual timelines I think this would have been so much better.

Overall Review:

Kmuse: I give this movie a 5.5/10 because of the huge issues I had with the plot.  I just can’t accept that Kenji willingly went into a marriage with another woman simply because she was sick.  That said, I give the OTP cute moments an 8/10.  Anytime they were on screen I totally forget how pissed off I was at the odd plot twists.

CLKYTTA: I give this movie a 4/10 because love of an OTP is not a really good reason to highly rate a movie.  The OTP is definitely an 8/10, they are bright, shiny, and fun, and I want to keep watching more movies with them.  I just really hope that the writing is better in our next movie.

We watched this movie on the Filipino streaming site TFC tv where we watch all our Filipino movie reviews legally. Kmuse will be doing a review of the site in the near future to let you know the plusses and minuses to becoming a subscriber.

Til our next movie adventure,

Kmuse & Clkytta

Dramas With a Side of Kimchi

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