"Urduja" certainly deserves the unanimous A rating it got from the Cinema Evaluation Board.

We’ve had other local animated films before, but this is the first full length one that’s released in commercial theatres like a regular film. The previous ones are also quite crude compared to this one.

There are still some jagged edges and stilted movements in a number of scenes (also lacking in shadow detail) but, over all, the animation work (which is said to have taken about a decade to complete) is fairly well crafted, especially when compared to previous local cartoon flicks. It’s not as state of the art as the ornate movies of Pixar or Dreamworks, but it may still be considered top of the line. Kudos to all the Filipino animators who worked on it.

A dream project of APT Entertainment’s Tony Tuviera, the story (which is pure fiction and not based on the historical Urduja of Pangasinan) is set in 700 years ago in the land of the Tawilisi in Central Luzon, led by the ailing Lakanpati (voice by Eddie Garcia). Urduja (Regine Velasquez) is her only child who’s been trained as warrior to fight their rival tribe, the Batyaw. Her dad wants her to marry Simakwel (Jay Manalo), leader of their guards, but Urduja is against it.

A Chinese pirate, Limhang (Cesar Montano), is shipwrecked in Tawilisi after being pursued by his nemesis, Wang (Johnny Delgado). Urduja nurses the injured Limhang back to health while her lady in waiting, Mayumi (Ruby Rodriguez), gets enamoured with Limhang’s Japanese friend, Daisuke (Jeffre Quizon.)

Urduja and Limhang expectedly fall for each other, much to the chagrin of Simakwel who challenges Limhang to fight him in a carabao race. Simakwel and his co-horts try to cheat and harm Limhang but to no avail as Limhang still comes up triumphant. Wang eventually catches up with Limhang and wants to subjugate all the Tawilisi. But an incident, where Limhang emerges as the hero, helps reconcile the warring Tawilisi and Butyaw tribes and they become allies against the marauding Wang.

"Urduja" might be called the Pinoy version of Mulan or Pocahontas with a brave and strong-willed heroine who is ahead of her time in practising woman empowerment. To make her story attractive to modern audiences, the script used a lot of hip Taglish and kwela words, like the acronym HHWW (holding hands while walking) that sadly didn’t register well with the viewers at the Makati mall theatre where we watched the movie. There’s also an effort to impart positive messages about filial relationships, friendship, bravery, and unity.

Some of the elements used are borrowed from past Disney movies, like the use of some songs in forwarding the story. Sadly most of the songs here are lackluster and unappealing, with some of the lyrics being mediocre and pedestrian. The best song is easily the evocative "Paalam" duet of Urduja and Limhang. The presence of animal sidekicks Kukut (Michael V) and Tarsir (Allan K) for comic relief is reminiscent of Timon and Pumba in "Lion King." They even have their own song like "Hakuna Matata" from "Lion King."

The production design is great, filled with vibrant colors and with the backgrounds suggesting good spatial quality. The voice acting is generally fine, with Michael V the most effective of them all in giving a truly rollicking performance as the cute and lovable mouse, Kukut. A good animation film also needs a strong villain and Johnny Delgado provides that with his Wang. The musical score by Mon Faustino is superb and the direction by Reggie Entienza of the well-developed script is very competent. All in all, it’s an entertaining fast-paced movie that the whole family will enjoy.

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In 2003, Ang Lee (who’d later win the Oscar for "Brokeback Mountain"), made a big screen version of "The Incredible Hulk," created by Marvel’s Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1962. Simply titled "Hulk," it proved to be too serious and too psychological in its treatment. It opened to $ 62 million but negative word of mouth made its box office take quickly fell into only $ 18 million the following week and it never recovered.

Doing another take on the same material is a risky undertaking but as the saying goes: If at first you don’t succeed... They now got new stars and a new creative team led by Director Louis Leterrier ("Transporter 2") to make sure it’s totally different from its predecessor, with Stan Lee guesting in the role of a pizza parlor owner named Stanley. The result is a more action-oriented version and we’re sure avid fans of The Hulk will say, "This is how they should have done it then." The new "Hulk" has no artsy-fartsy pretensions and comes out a more entertaining crowd-pleaser as it’s more plot and action-driven and doesn’t waste much time on talky expositions.

The story hews more closely to the 70s TV show. The opening credits show how Dr. Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) was exposed to gamma radiation and transforms like Dr. Jekyll and Hyde into a green giant each time he gets so angry. Gen. Ross (William Hurt) wants to capture him so his special power can be used by the army as a new weapon. This forces Bruce to be on the run and he hides in Brazil working in a bottling plant while trying to learn Portuguese and to find a remedy for his condition with the help of a certain Mr. Blue.

Gen. Ross traces him when a drop of his blood accidentally falls inside a soft drink bottle. A team of US commandos is sent to get him, led by Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), a diehard soldier. But Bruce manages to escape in an exciting foot chase on top of rooftops in a thickly populated favela or slums (ala-Jason Bourne). It is in this sequence that he first turns into Hulk. He then goes back to the US where he finds an ally in his former girlfriend, Dr. Betty Ross (Liv Tyler, replacing Jennifer Connelly), daughter of Gen. Ross who helps him get away from her dad.

Gen. Ross and Emil Blonsky then cook up other ways of capturing Bruce. First is a thrilling encounter at the university campus where Betty teaches and where Hulk takes on bazookas, tanks, bombs, wind machines, and even a helicopter. Next is when Bruce set ups an appointment with Mr. Blue in Manhattan. Blonsky, in turn, forces Mr. Blue to turn him into a monstrous creature called the Abomination who has a spectacular showdown with the Hulk. Their final battle in the streets of New York, where cars are thrown about like toys and where buildings are smashed, is even more excitingly staged than the finale of last year’s "Transformers" or the more recent "Iron Man."

The new Hulk movie is in many way a tribute to the 80s TV show with Lou Ferrigno as the green giant. Lou himself appears in a cameo role as a security guard (which he also played in the 2003 flick) and he also provides the voice of the Hulk. We also get to see Bill Bixby (the original Bruce Banner) in a TV show, hear the TV show’s theme music and there’s a familiar shot of Bruce walking alone while trying to hitch a ride.

Unlike the 2003 movie where the computer generated special effects look crude, the CGI work in the new version is more marvelously crafted, with the physical features of Hulk and the Abomination better defined. Edward Norton is much more credible than Eric Bana in the 2003 version as the tortured soul that Bruce Banner is. Tim Roth and William Hurt look like they have a lot of fun playing the bad guys. Liv Tyler is more fetching than Jennifer Connelly as Betsy Ross. Although, Edward and Tyler do not have much on screen chemistry, their reunion in the rain is still quite touching and you can feel a real sense of caring and affection between them.

This new Hulk movie is made by Marvel Studios, just like "Iron Man," so don’t be surprised if you’d see Robert Downey Jr. here playing Tony Stark and hinting that he’s forming a team with Hulk ("The Avengers"). Also, it is hinted here that the next villain in the sequel will be Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), the New York scientist who is also shown starting to transform after Blonsky. He represents the the similarly green-skinned criminal with the over-sized brain called The Leader.

As Hulk himself says in the finale: "Hulk smash!" And we have no doubt that this new take on him will indeed be a smash hit. The next superhero movie to be shown is "The Dark Knight" which is from DC Comics. Let’s see if it could top the box-office success of the two Marvel Comics releases.