Movie Review: Topakk

The film is the story of a soldier named Miguel, played by Arjo Atayde, who is a platoon leader assigned in the Southern Philippines. In one encounter with an extremist group, the confrontation turns tragic when all his men are killed in the battle. Witnessing the death of his men pushes Miguel to the edge and goes amok in fighting the enemy with bloodlust and vengeance until finally wiping up the enemies. After his discharge from the army, Miguel is haunted by the carnage. He now works as a security guard and faces a different kind of war. One evening, while on duty in a warehouse, two drug peddlers, played by Julia Montes and her brother enter the warehouse to hide from vigilantes who are pursuing them. Unaware of who the intruders are, Miguel turns the 2 to the squad. When Miguel sees the intruders shot by the vigilantes, the memories of the bloodbath that befell his platoon come back to him. Riddled with guilt, Miguel takes up the fight for the survival of the 2 drug peddlers. Armed with a rusty shotgun, he wades through a gauntlet of fire and bullets. All hell breaks loose in a night when a tormented soul, a sinner and a horde of demons collide.

 

Topakk is a hard core action film with great production design that was effectively used in intense fight choreography. Arjo Atayde is such a good actor in this film, giving an in depth and restrained performance for a person suffering with PTSD. I can say that Arjo Atayde is John Wick of the Philippines, with his portrayal in this action packed film. A new action star princess is born with Julia Montes giving it all strength, fierceness and angst to her fight scenes. Arjo and Julia are a dynamic duo that have chemistry and look good together on the screen. Their combination is suitable in this film with the two gems in acting doing action on the big screen. Topakk certainly delivers plenty of flawless fights and a twist with solid series of thrilling combat scenes that effectively uses the tools in the warehouse in combat for survival within the characters. Topak offers something new in the table in terms of the Filipino action genre and this  could be the reason for seeing this in cinema.

My Verdict:  3.5/5