‘The Revenger Squad’

(We are running this guide to help moviegoers plan their holiday cinema tour. The 43rd Metro Manila Film Festival runs from Dec. 25 to Jan. 7, 2018.)

Directed by Joyce Bernal; stars Vice Ganda, Daniel Padilla, Pia Wurtzbach, Loisa Andalio, Ejay Falcon.

Comedian Vice Ganda has set “exceptionally high expectations of himself” while making this fantasy-adventure film, according to director Joyce Bernal.

She says the comedian “wants to do a lot of things in the movie,” referring specifically to action stunts and special effects required in making it. Bernal also has good words for young star Daniel Padilla and 2015 Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach, whom she said was “surprisingly natural at comedy.”

Bernal adds: “Never did Pia make us feel that she’s a beauty queen and should be treated differently.” Wurtzbach plays super heroine Kwenie, who along with Vice (as Gandarra) and Padilla (as Rapido), form the group called The Revenger Squad. As with most superhero flicks, the team sets out to save the world from destructive evil forces.

Bernal, who directed the 2016 topgrosser “The Super Parental Guardians,” says she refuses to feel the pressure. “Having a hit movie boosts your self-confidence, but it doesn’t define who you are,” she declares. —MARINEL R. CRUZ