DCRJ's Movie Reviews: THE WITNESS (2012) from GMA Films and Skylar Films

We saw THE WITNESS (2012) starring GMA-7 artist Gwen Zamora and Indonesian actor Pierre Gruno. The film is a collaboration of GMA-7 and Indonesian film company Skylar. Angel played by Gwen, a hotel manager in Indonesia who just moved in from the Philippines has witnessed the massacre of both of her parents including her sister Safara by a lone gunman and she was also shot on the back but somehow she miraculously survived. Haunted by dreams of a man committing suicide including the gunman, she decides to investigate the case by herself without the help of her newly acquainted Indonesian detective. First the positive note, Gwen can really act and convince her viewers with the fitting mood in an atmosphere of fear. Indonesian actor Pierre Gruno as Satria is the right choice for the gunman. The blood splattering effects is on par with Hollywood. Now the negatives, loopholes in characterizations made the characters superficial, what drives the gunman to the edge of insanity by slaughtering an entire family? the suicide of his son isn't enough cause as consequence of his betrayal to his own son. Something deep is definitely lacking here. The young lovers sequence complete with cheesy song deviates from the mood of a psychological thriller movie. Gwen's cry and wailings was overly long to tediousness and the same annoying wailings was shown again later. Gwen was shot in the back particularly the spinal cord area which amazes me she managed to walk up straight later in the film. The Angel character is a hotel manager and somehow was able to set up a shotgun and used it, her shotgun abilities wasn't established in the film. Angel's mother is actually an Indonesian actress and had difficulty pronouncing the right Tagalog accent. Overall, the film is still watchable with the correct blend of suspense and thrill despite the incongruities. My ratings: 3 out of 5 Biscuits !