Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

Ortiz Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

anusince87 The magnificence of "Magnifico" is just undeniable. After watching it, everything else I watched seemed so bland. This was the first Filipino movie I came across, and it instantly struck a chord. The movie was a welcome change after I had viewed scores of Hollywood flicks."Magnifico" is the best example of how a movie can work just based on fine & natural performances. The child artist is brilliant as an actor and so is the rest of the cast. It's hard for me to believe that just 260 something viewers at IMDb have voted for it (probably only a small number has seen it). It's probably one of the finest movies in recent years. Highly recommended, a must watch: 10/10.

SANKAR GANESH DURAI PANDIAN I am from India and I have never seen any Philipines movie. Without knowing anything about this movie, I borrowed it from library for my kid. I never cry while seeing a movie especially if someone is around. But I could not hold the tears till the end. This is going to be the most favorite movie of my life time. Characterisation and screenplay are too good, that we don't realize that we are getting deep into that movie. My mother does not understand English. But she was also speechless at the end. I thank all the artists involved in this movie for giving a wonderful movie (lesson) to the world. I wish our Indian directors/producers also see this movie and try giving us good movies.

Ryu_Darkwood This title can best be described as a '' Pay it forward '' on the Philipines. Without the glitter and the glamor of a Hollywood flick, it tells the heartwarming story of a young boy from a poor family, trying to arrange the burial for his grandmother. Of course he teaches the so called adults around him that they have to break their lethargy around certain choices to get further in life.I had to get used to the simplistic way of filming. It felt a bit cheap, comparing to most of the similar films made in the U.S. But as the story evolved, I also started to like this simplicity because of the authentic view it gives us of poverty in the Philipines. It never felt artificial, as most of the American movies with similar themes usually do. Its characters are humans of flesh and blood, and although their acting is stiff and sometimes uncharismatic, they feel natural. But still, at the end I felt a bit hollow. This usually happens when I liked a movie but when there is some aspect that doesn't really fulfill my expectations. The ending is cheesy, predictable and far from original. It doesn't surpass the level of those cheap '' based on true stories ''- movies or anything inspired by the books of Danielle Steel. And to add more criticism; the soundtrack is incredible awful.My conclusion: At the end it's not that great, but that doesn't mean that I couldn't like this cute story. Especially the scene in which our little hero measures up the size of his grandmother is truly heartwarming. This is for the sensitive moviegoers, cynics shouldn't even bother to try it!

misterphilippines Unfortunately, I never got the chance to watch this film in Germany when it won its awards at the Berlin Film Festival in 2004. I only had the chance to watch it when I came back to the Philippines and I never really expected what impact it would have on me.First, it is obvious that Miss Yamamoto is a gifted screenplay writer and director de los Reyes will bring it far in his respective field if he will continue his great contributions for Philippine cinema. Maginifico is really an enlightment and inspiration towards the development of Filipino films. This is what the dying entertainment industry needs right now.The story and the sound effects were good, the music really fitted very well to the setting. The beginning scenes of the story weren't really captivating at all so one needed patience to get attracted to its plot. The scenes are simple but they become touching once the story gears to an end. In this film, no character has to wail or shout to catch viewers' emotions, the reality and frankness of the film was so direct and impressive that the story simply forces you to cry at some point. I never really cry at movies, even Hollywood tear-jerkers have no effect on me. This one has just awaken so much truth and reality in the Philippine society of poverty and innocence of a child, it really is heartrending.One thing that could have been improved are the visual qualities of the film, they are really not compatible to global standards. And there were too many scenes at the story that were really out of topic etc. but otherwise, this film really is a knockout. It is a great contribution to the local film industry and films like these with high quality deserve good production and not only support for the commercial mainstream in the Philippines but also in cinemas worldwide. It can really par with many Hollywood masterpieces.