The last temptation of Joey G.

Whatever else might be said of Chris Martinez’s remake of Joey Gosiengfiao’s cult classic Temptation Island, there is no denying the faithfulness of the 2011 version to the campiness of the original that was a rare oddity of ‘70s Philippine cinema. Gosiengfiao’s movie, may the good director rest easy in an afterlife without cannibals or beauty contests, was so bad it was good, some say perhaps intentionally.

Now a reviewer who has watched both movies would certainly have something more to say in terms of basis of comparison, but the cleanup guys of the mayor’s office and the OMB beat us to our sukis in Quiapo hawking such finds as the original Temptation that would have augmented much-needed research. But this shortcoming, apparently minor at the outset, will not prevent the casual viewer of the new millennium from appreciating and, yes, even being really entertained (to the max!) with the Martinez offering. This is after all the guy who gave us 100 and Here Comes the Bride, and the forthcoming Babae sa Septic Tank at Cinemalaya.

Based on the comments in the review room, it is learned that Azenith Briones and Deborah Sun from the original are here present in the remake essaying understandably older roles, as the mother (Sun) of one of the contestants Pura Kinang (Solenn Heussaff), and as the matron (Briones) in charge of the beauty contest on the far side of town Miss Sunshine Manila, a la Stella Araneta.

Of course the likes of Bambi Arambulo and Alfie Anido are surely to be missed, but there are more than enough replacements here, and updated ones, too. The certified hunks whose names we’ve mostly forgotten except for Machete achuete Aljur Abrenica, and the pretty, sexy young things from which any warm blooded male would find hard put to choose one.

There’s the virginal Virginia P (Heart Evangelista) who essays her role well as the prim and proper colegiala thrust into the limelight of a beauty tilt; the bitchy Serafina (Lovi Poe) who has matured by leaps and bounds in character nuances; the gyrating Heussaff with the innumerable moles, to Marian Rivera and Rufa Mae Quinto as the streetwise contestant and Serafina’s alalay, respectively, leaving the viewer confused and delighted with such abundance of shipwrecked beauty.

Not to forget John Lapuz as Joshua Gosiengfiao, the central heroic bading who symbolically is cannibalized in the end, but not before he provides some of the best laughs.

The lines are vintage cheese that we understand how this became a cult hit, and the closing credits have the added bonus of juxtaposing footage from the remake with counterparts from the original.

The overall effect is not unlike a time warp, and this wrinkle is admirably executed by Martinez, who is no slouch for allowing a dead man to speak through the film without sounding dated. This could well be the last temptation of Joey G., to go on living if vicariously in lines and acting so awful they outlasted oblivion itself.

The remake of Temptation Island (Regal, GMA) was graded B by the Cinema Evaluation Board.