Panday is Fernando Poe Jr. Fernando Poe Jr. is Panday. Without FPJ, there is no Panday. So, why even bother with another? With a franchise like Panday, one could at least expect an ounce of respect from the man who made it all real on the silver screen. Ronnie (FPJ's nickname) even expected, before his untimely demise, a little bit of value out of this series. Everybody knew that without FPJ, there is no Panday. Bong Revilla knew that, and even Jinggoy Estrada learned that fact after his humiliating stint as a gun-slinging, beer-bellied Panday.
The story of Panday is Universal; a simple blacksmith vowed to protect the helpless after being endowed with a powerful sword. The blacksmith-turned-warrior then fights Supernatural forces and saves the day. We might have seen this same storyline in Arthurian legends and the Conan saga, but it was Fernando Poe Jr.'s impeccable charisma and personality that saved the movie from certain mediocre damnation and lifted it up in movie deification. FPJ is to Panday as hamburgers are to McDonalds: there can be nothing without the other.
So, whoever thought they can make Panday into something without FPJ is committing blasphemy to the highest level. ABS-CBN, and their "creative" writers decided to walk on water and try it, casting over-actor Jericho Rosales (Mister "I cry so hard I pee in my pants") in the Panday role and one-dimensional Heart Evangelista as his love interest. What could be worse than replacing FPJ with some teenybopper who thinks his acting is God's gift to the Philippines? They changed the storyline drastically to appeal to a younger audience, sacrificing story value.
Want more? They inserted cut-scenes made out of very obsolete 1980's test computer graphics. The animation is SO DARN BAD it looked like some three-year-old played with a CGI program on his dad's computer. The characters that walked around had blocked heads and nobody can see any faces. A sixteen-year-old computer geek could've done better. Point of suggestion: If it does not look good, get rid of it.
Next, the storyline. The writers could have at least applied the least-used fantasy clichés, but they did not. The main hero enters the fantasy world through the pages of the comic books. Hello?! A-ha music video? Alamat ng Lawin? Winnie the Pooh? Superbook? Any of these programs ring a bell? Again, the writers treat the audience like three year-old kids. Are there more to expect in the story? Probably, but I'd rather read a fairytale book; at least it does not give headaches. Also, expect a million tons of fight scenes and a story revolving around the ho-hum, two-dimensional premise of good versus evil.
Another point of suggestion: If you put CGI's and cliché story lines, it does not mean everybody will watch the show.
Anybody wondering why this show is not rating well? I sure do hope ABS-CBN has a house priest, because after this desecration of FPJ's remains, I'm sure FPJ is extremely offended. The hosts of Lizardo and Panday himself might join forces and haunt them and their families for all eternity.
Confess your sins, folks!
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