Filipino film director Pedring A. Lopez’s fearsome but formulaic female revenge thriller “Maria,” headlining Christina Reyes, makes the gun-toting, blade-wielding, karate chopping dames in “La Femme Nitika,” “Peppermint,” “Atomic Blonde,” and “Anya” look like Girl Scouts soliciting for their annual cookie drive. Clocking in at a nimble 90 minutes, “Maria” never wears out its welcome, though it relies primarily on an inventory of cliches to propel its ballistic yarn. Several factors distinguish this low budget actioneer and enhance its spectacle, principally a persuasive cast, acrobatic combat choreography, atmospheric settings, a sympathetic heroine, thoroughly despicable villains, and some extreme violence in its depiction of its unsavory subject matter. Sensitive souls who abhor graphic violence should skip this bloodthirsty carnage in this martial-arts action thriller.
“Maria” follows the unfortunate fate of a Filipino assassin formerly known as the Black Rose assassin Lily. Our courageous heroine staged her own death, so she could quit the cartel, disappear into obscurity, and start a family. Guess her hormones were crying out to her. Now, after seven years, things are looking pretty rosy for our protagonist. Maria has married Bert (Guji Lorenzana of “Silong”) who is a decent guy. They have a rambunctious daughter, Min-Min (Johanna Rish Tongcua of “Once Before”) and they indulge her every whim. Predictably, Lopez presents a portrait of domestic family bliss fuzzy with sentiment. Meantime, the Black Rose cartel that Maria deserted is monitoring a controversial gubernatorial race. They don’t like the way things is shaping up and they send their henchmen out to cover it. Maria’s old lover Kaleb (Germaine De Leon of “Here Comes the Boom”) from her Black Rose days reacts with understandable shock when he spots her in a picture at a rally taken by one of his henchmen. Immediately, Kaleb informs his father, the chieftain of the Black Rose cartel, Ricardo (Freddy Webb of “Etiquette for Mistresses”), about his alarming discovery. Although Kaleb vows to liquidate the dame himself for her treachery, Victor (KC Montero of “Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2”) has nothing but contempt for Ricardo’s son. Nevertheless, Kaleb and his gunmen crash Maria’s house without warning and gun down not only Bert but also kill Min-Min! Now, there is no going backwards. Maria vows to rub out her enemies with extreme prejudice, no matter how long it takes her. She convinces her mentor, Greg (Ronnie Lazaro of “Gospel of the Beast”), to provide her with not only sanctuary but also furnish her with an arsenal of weapons to wage her own private war. The only thing keeping Greg from suffering reprisals for aiding and abetting Maria is a gentleman’s agreement with the Black Rose cartel. Imagine that: honor among these thieves.
You’ve seen this kind of high body count thriller dozens of time. What “Maria” lacks in originality, Lopez more than compensates with blood, gore, and more. Moreover, this predictable but exciting yarn never runs out of steam. Of course, Maria whips everybody’s butts! No surprises there! Nevertheless, the violence in the cartel scenes is pretty toxic. Ricardo loves to torture those whom he suspects are traitors within his ranks. Moreover, he is prepared to do some rather vile things. We see two hefty fellows strung up like beef in a slaughter house who have been beaten half to death. The cartel chieftain is chewing them out before he has two cute little babes with automatic pistols clean the wax out of their ears with lead! The CGI splashes of blood are brief but punctual! Later, the cartel torture a naked man strewn on a table. After beating the poor soul to a pulp but not enough to loosen his tongue, they resort to a mechanical enema, thrusting a rod up his anus. Yes, the guy screams like a stuck hog. Indeed, if you’ve ever endured a prostrate biopsy, you can sympathize with this fellow’s plight. Granted, these scenes are excessive, but they prove that the Black Rose cartel is not a Sunday School outfit. Their indifference to murder in all forms is clearly sociopathic. Sensitive souls may shrink from these scenes. If ever a mob needed massacring, the Black Rose does and it gets its just comeuppance. As the alpha female, Christina Reyes lives up to her reputation and thwarts her old employers. Word is a sequel is in the works, too.
