Movie Review: W IS WAR

aka W
aka WA
Directed by Willie Milan
Philippines; 1983



W is a blast of sleaze and wackiness. It's extremely violent although never really gory or anything. But it piles on the gratuitous action to the point of absurdity. Basically a haphazardly assembled MAD MAX rip, this Filipino production is pretty damned amazing. It's no masterpiece, but what do you want, another CRIES AND WHISPERS? Look elsewhere bub. This is all about vengeance, blood vendettas, pure hate transferred into a pop orgy of mindless fun. I know nothing about the film-makers but this broadcasts the best aspects of z-grade Asian cinema, so I have to assume, as I am wont to do, that they are in-fact unheralded geniuses whose work has been unfairly passed over in favor of stuffy, boring neorealist claptrap that will "uplift your soul" or something. Me, I like to wallow in the celluloid gutter thank you very much. Please, join me ...



Like I said, it's all about revenge. Is there any better subject for a low-budget genre film from the fringes of the "civilized" world? In this blood-thirsty case, the vengeance comes from a cop whose been castrated. Yes, you read that correctly, a castrated cop. How did he come to this emasculated state? Well, he had the gall to take on a particularly nasty drug-ring crime-syndicate/leather-bound skin-head post-apocalyptic death-cult. During one attempted bust, our hero (know only as "W2", why he names himself after a tax form I have no idea) shoots and kills one of the bald baddies in self-defense, incurring the ire of cult's leader. First W2 gets suspended by the those bastard do-nothing police bureaucrats who of course "don't get it" - then, after marrying his hot-tart sweetheart he and his new wifey are kidnapped and horrendously abused by the evil throng. Wifey watches in horror as W2 is stripped and then ripped. Thankfully the act is mostly left to our imagination. It's fairly horrifying nonetheless. Our hero is understandably morose about this plot-twist and finds himself in a crisis of machismo as Wifey continues to squeal and writhe about him in full heat. He can't satisfy her so of course his only course of action is ... Oh yeah, you know it - vengeance!



Lots of fights, both gun and fist, ensue. There's some plot stuff involving a drug bust and the cult/gang's retaliation by kidnapping a group of little kids from a Catholic school. Adds some to the sleaze but not much really to the story. There's a fun bit at the end where Our Hero leads a group of rogue coppers in an assault on Leather Death Cult HQ - they rescue the kiddies but for some reason lead them right into the middle of the battle where they have to dodge bullets, bombs and flying corpses. How incredibly stupid but yet, entertaining. That pretty much sums up the film, which is full of zip and zest despite the bummer details of the plot. OK it's more like "because of" instead of "despite", but you know you like the depravities of humanity spat out in hyper-weird cinematic style, admit it. This is first class, no-budget swill all the way. W plods down only in a few of its expositionary details here and there but otherwise keeps the crazy coming fast and furious. I liked it and so will you. Or maybe you won't, what do I care.