YouTube: Review of 12 DAYS TO DESTINY: Bonding over Balut
September 29, 2019
Robert S. Tan of Blade Auto Center began his movie-producing endeavors last year with the film "Dito Lang Ako" (MY REVIEW). This was an inter-generational love story which was prominently set in the premises of a Blade Auto Center branch. This year, perhaps because of the financial challenge of releasing a film in theaters, Blade decided that their second feature film "12 Days to Destiny" will be released for the public to watch for free on YouTube instead. This week it just breached 1M views.
Daniel (Akihiro Blanco), a salesman in a Blade store, was also a student in Engineering. One day, pretty Camille (Mary Joy Apostol) came in the store looking for made-to-order seat covers, and Daniel assisted her with the transaction. While snacking on balut and other encounters in and out of the store, Daniel and Camille get closer together. However, to complicate matters, a guy named T always called Camille, while Daniel's ex-girlfriend Cat made an unexpected comeback.
The whole movie (LINK) was only 56 minutes long, an easy watch. The boy-meets-girl plot is simple and familiar. The cinematography was quite basic, with mostly regular camera angles, with occasional use of drones for overhead shots. The editing was also basic, and the transition of scenes were rather in choppy episodes. The musical soundtrack consisted of some upbeat romantic songs of the acoustic styles which are very typical among rom-com films about the millennial set currently.
However, despite all of that simplicity, this movie does not fail to deliver on its main purposes for being made. First, it worked as an advertisement for Blade Auto Center., as the main setting and employer of the lead character. It showcased the wide array of car parts and accessories Blade carried, as well as personalized service Blade provides its customers. It also showed that there is close camaraderie among the boss and employees in their company, which be useful in staff recruitment.
As a rom-com, there was very good chemistry between the two main actors, as well as earnest performances as individuals for both of them. Akihiro Blanco played up his wholesome boy-next-door charms. Mary Joy Apostol, in a wide departure from her acclaimed debut film "Birdshot" (Mikhail Red, 2016), proved that she can also play it cute and light. As couple, the two can generate romantic thrills, even if you are just watching this from the limited screen of your smart phone.
This short movie written and directed by CJ Santos provides a quick fix for your rom-com cravings -- cute, cheesy, shallow and amusing -- just as rom-com junkies like it. Because of the success of this first feature in #BladeStories on YouTube, Blade is planning to complete a trilogy about Daniel and Camille's love story. 5/10.
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