I could care less which came first between Wonder Woman or Darna. There's always going to be some inspiration from somewhere. Just think that Toei Ltd. once had Marvel's permission to create their own version of Spiderman. I'd admit that I can be a fan of the Darna movies or the Wonder Woman movies. I used to watch the Wonder Woman TV series starring Lynda Carter who's now a stunning old lady. We also have Gel Gadot who's pretty while I ironically think an elderly Lynda looks prettier. Now, I could think about Darna and how the superheroine franchise may be disrespected in recent times. Note that I'm also feeling Disney's executives have desecrated the Star Wars franchise and Marvel Comics too. I feel the late Mars Ravelo's memory (who died in 1988) has been desecrated.
I could remember watching (and enjoying) a few Darna films. I could remember one film in which Vilma Santos-Recto was Darna. My memory is best stuck to Nanette Medved-Po as well as Anjanette Abayari-Pangan. My memory of Darna also had her archenemy known as Valentina - an obvious tribute to the Gorgon known as Medusa. I haven't seen the 1950s to 1960s films though. The first Darna is the late Rosa Del Rosario Stagner who later retired, moved to America, and died there at 88 years old. We also had Liza Moreno, Eva Montes (where Connie Angeles was Narda), Eva Montes, and Gina Pareno. I don't think I'll be too interested in films that old regardless of where they came from.
Eventually, Darna became a TV series. GMA-7 produced two series in fact. One was where Angel Locsin Colmenares-Arce was in the 2005 version. GMA-7 rewrote it for some reason and we had Marian Rivera-Dantes in 2009. Was it because Angel left GMA-7? Regardless, I felt both of them were pretty much beautifully pointless. I did have a crush on Angel before in college (though that was quickly overridden by my ridiculous wish to marry Kim Tae Hee). Right now, we have the 2022 version which is about to end any time soon in favor of Batang Quiapo.
We have Jane De Leon who admitted that she used to imitate Darna back as a kid. Jane was born in 1998 so she should be just a kid when Angel was Darna. Angel would be only 20 years old when she was Darna. That means Jane was only seven years old. Well, I'm glad that Jane didn't join the COVID-19 rally or do anything stupid. Unfortunately, Angel herself wasn't a good role model during COVID-19. That scene of Jeon Yeo Bin being locked up in Vincenzo made me wish Angel served a jail sentence over her attitude. Unfortunately, we know how different Korean celebrities are from ABiaS-CBN celebrities in 2020.
Regardless, the whole Darna series are beautifully pointless. I could think about the bad use of CGI is just one. All three series have a daily run which means editing and quality checking are almost impossible. It seems all three were overly reliant on a sexy young lady. Well, I guess that's why none of the Darna TV adaptations can become as long as Coconuts Martin's Ang Probinsyanyo. I'll still admit that all these adaptations should be labeled as what they are - BEAUTIFULLY POINTLESS.
Comments
Post a Comment