Just came from the movies with my 8 year old daughter and I must say that RPG Metanoia is quite possibly one of the best Pinoy animated films ever made. (That's an exaggeration, I know.)
Plot-wise, it's your classic "kids saving the world" story. But the way it's put together is quite fun. Since I don't want to spoil it for you, you'll need to watch it to see what actually happens.
What I'll do share is how I enjoyed seeing Pinoy life captured on film and immortalized for this generation's kids who need to see things such as the protagonist doing his household chores (seriously, how many kids nowadays still have these?) and Pinoy games like patintero, sipa, tumbang preso, piko, taguan, agawan base (do YOU remember them?). An aside: it was also amusing to see the hero ride a tricycle and to have daing na bangus for dinner! Oh, and I almost forgot, his weapon of choice is a -- get this -- a yoyo (which depending on who you believe, is an ancient Filipino weapon.)
The animation is quite good -- which is to be expected since a lot of foreign companies actually outsource their animation to the Philippines and have been doing so since the 80's. What I didn't expect is the sheer number of scenes in the movie -- that was a lot to animate, and they didn't scrimp or cheat their way out of it. (They took four years to do it, incidentally.)
So having said that, my point is: watch RPG Metanoia with your kids. Buy the merchandise when it comes out. These kinds of efforts have to be supported. (If you need more convincing, read this review and this one as well.)
With a film of this level and quality coming from Ambient Media and Thaumatrope Animation, it's safe to say that I wait with bated breath for their next outing. Hopefully, it doesn't have to take another four years.
