GAGAMBOY

The super hero is a long established tradition in Asian popular cinema and especially Filipino films. In 2003 there were at least three super hero movies including the plot-confused Captain Barbell, the slapstick Fantastikman and Erik Matti’s superior Gagamboy which on the face of it seems derived from Spider-Man but which emerges as an inventive super hero movie from an urban Third World perspective that is seen in the best of Filipino cinema. Vhong Navarro shows his action star potential here as Junie, the hero who becomes the Spiderboy of the title, a retiring ice-cream seller who loves the beautiful Aubrey Miles (from Matti’s Prosti) and has a deep-rooted fear of cockroaches. But Navarro is given super powers after an accident at a pharmaceutical lab and becomes a do-good crusader, defender of the poor and oppressed, protector of children and the one person who can do battle with his nemesis, the hideous looking Ipisman (Cockroach Man), played by Jay Manalo (also from Matti’s Prosti). As Gagamboy, Junie protects himself with a sticky orange substance that he can turn into whatever object he wants and in the end is able to rescue Aubrey and defeat Ipisman. Matti has skillfully made the film as a kind of homage to comic books (even though Gagamboy himself was not a comic book derived character) with sophisticated special effects, prosthetics, spectacular sets, and exciting stunt work. Navarro plays the hero with the right register of comedy and pathos, while handsome Manalo is a surprising and impressive as the villain. What sets the film apart however is Matti’s delineation of his lead character who has a depth and sense of purpose that goes beyond pure comic book and action film theatrics. Junie wants to save the poor and protect the barangay community but his phobia of cockroaches means that confronting the man-sized Ipisman is akin to living his worst nightmare and trying to defeat it. Within the highly charged political atmosphere of the Philippines it is not difficult to interpret the political metaphors of Gagamboy not only as a local super hero but also of the spirit of the Filipino who, once he able to conquer his fears, can achieve his full and noble ambition.