Film Review : Lakbay2Love

Things to Love in Lakbay2Love

Romance, nature, finding oneself, family and reality rolled into one. Lakbay2Love is an advocacy film that is far from the usual on-top-of-our-heads kind of films that might sound preachy; this one is made personal. With romance as a jump-off point to tell a story of one’s struggles and emotional baggage, delivering a clear advocacy for environmental awareness and biking as a community than just a hobby, while falling in love with nature, Lakbay2Love surely hit the criteria for a feel-good movie that Filipinos go gaga for lately. What is interesting is that, this feel-good movie made the audience immerse in the world of nature and biking with the all-time favorite spice of romance. This is a feature film of Love – for nature, for the other, for oneself and for family.
Indeed, this is a love story that would not tickle the usual butterflies, but would make you appreciate that kind of love that we all have. Allow me to elaborate on the main points that made me love this flick.

Nature

With excellent cinematography, the movie captured the moving images of elegance and mystic of nature. Among the trees, below the falling leaves, beneath the moon that hides behind the clouds, through the branches where the first sunrays shine, the majesty of mountains and all those that we can no longer witness in a city life—these made the setting lift the beauty of life’s natural gifts, comparable to the beauty of the budding romance among characters.

Get ready to fall in love with nature. I did. And so would you.

Music

Original Pinoy Music at its best. Fall in love with music as it serenades the scenes and fill them up with more emotions. These are the tunes you would want to keep in a road trip, while the cold winds touch your face. In an entertainment industry dominated by foreign music, I couldn’t help feeling proud that we can still make music and poetry. Feel the scenes with reggae, rap, acoustic and pop – Pinoy style.

Here is Kai Honasan’s Liwanag, one of the best OSTs I’ve heard in a Pinoy film: 

Advocacy and Reality

Though the movie was able to deliver a good shot on a love story, it didn’t leave the advocacy behind. As much as nature is highlighted, the advocacy on environmental awareness and biking was pretty clear.

To see the beauty of nature is one, but seeing how it slowly dies with your bare eyes is another. One of the most emotional moments in this film was the striking contrast of nature’s beauty and its tragic fall.

Also, biking was presented not as a mere hobby or an option for typical weight loss solution. Biking, in this movie, was introduced as passion for people who fell in love with the sport, and a community that shares the most of their resources for this passion, that is not highlighted as much as it is ignored in the wide roads of the Metro. All these, plus the risk of biking and its lack of protection, sum up the great things for someone who travels the road on two wheels, one pedal at a time.

Here’s the clip that focused on environment and biking: 

Finding Oneself

Getting back on track literally and emotionally for Lianne (Solenn Heussaff) was not easy, after a break up and all her hang ups as she got accustomed with a broken family set up. It will never be less painful. She was a highly emotional character who is afraid of being alone. With all her emotional baggage, Lianne learned to let go of all that burdens her, as she grabbed her bike and find her own trail in life. The conflict was not just about Lianne’s decision who to love. It was not even about a rebound story. It was how she found herself and decided to live, not for others, not for those people who remained distant, not for those who left, but for herself. I wouldn’t end this movie in any other way. The last scene of Lianne paving her way to reach her very own destination is the best conclusion to deal with her character’s dilemma.

As an ordinary audience who hiked mountains twice, a self-confessed nature-indifferent member of this society, and somebody who does not ride a bike, I give this film a thumbs-up for everyone who wants to see a good film, with a sprinkle of kilig, a great comic relief on the sides and a lot to learn.

Here’s the full trailer of Lakbay2Love

Before you catch it on February 3, 2016 and experience a new drive at love, experience a trip to its Green Carpet Premiere:

Movie Rate : ★★★☆☆

Movie Review by Jemaima Robles
Edited by : AXLPowerhouse

Star Powerhouse Originals

Photo Credit to official fanpage of Lakbay2Love