The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

At last, a movie that the Filipino people need to see. In this day in time, the people do not usually see the real thing going on in our country. Especially in isolated or out-of-the-way places like the middle of the sea. The stories plot is very rare and original; the movie ingredients fit well and raise awareness of bigger social and environmental issues faced by the country: including child labor vs. realities of everyday survival for the masses; the destruction of marine natural resources. The connectivity between the story line and plots, characters and especially the location is perfect! The movie is character driven, so it is easier to relate to it because it just follows the live of a single character. Cesar Montano- who played Fredo- once again showed his extraordinary acting abilities and did another wonderful job, Pen Medina and Jhong Hlario must be commended for an outstanding supporting performances. However, the best actors that really pulled this movie are the supporting cast of a whole lot of children –who basically just played themselves, Aside from Rebecca Lusterio, who played Kalbo in the movie. She did a wonderful job for a new actor and a child like her. One thing that I like most about the movie is the excellent cinematography, particularly the underwater photography. I am just bothered about the accusation that the making of this movie itself also damaged the reef.The only disappointment I had was on the sound quality. Sound design, engineering, and editing needs big improvement. Then again, I only saw the VCD version and perhaps something got lost in translation. Abaya has always been a good Director and in this movie she had given her best.I would say the money invested was well spent for the still low when compared to Hollywood budgets. And sad to say, but the Philippine movie industry has good talents that can compete with the International market but because of lack of budget and moviegoers it is not becoming that successful.Overall, Muro-ami is a very brave movie. This is certainly not the standard average type of Filipino movie. It is one of the best films in Philippine movie history and you would be missing a lot if you do not watch this. It is about time that we make movies that will show us the real condition of our society, and Muro-ami came close to showing that. Yes, it just came close, because the truth is much more horrible than what you see in the film.

Finally, the Philippines has a film that stands out to elevate the country's film industry standards. This is such a great departure from the many mediocre formula melodrama films I've seen from the Philippines. I will recommend this to everyone who want to know something about the Philippines, particularly its beautiful locations.Excellent cinematography, particularly the underwater photography. Perfect tie-in of story lines and plots, characters, location. The movie ingredients fit well and raise awareness of bigger social and environmental issues faced by the country: including child labor vs. realities of everyday survival for the masses; the destruction of marine natural resources.Cesar Montano acting proved him a top actor worthy of much bigger future roles and international exposure.The director, producers, cast, and crew took many risks in making this film. I'd say the money invested was well spent for the still low when compared to Hollywood budgets. The Philippines movie industry has the talents and can do things as in Hollywood. It just needs bigger funding to continue making top caliber films worthy of international venues. Muro-Ami may be the catalyst for such future offerings.The only disappointment I had was on the sound quality. Sound design and engineering and editing needs big improvement. Then again, I only saw the DVD version and perhaps something got lost in translation.

I'm a big advocate of Abaya's films, and in this movie she had given her best with regards to the cinematography. I like the way she captured the underwater scenes. Cesar Montano,I might say he is a veryversatile actor, giving his character a realistic soul.The whole movie is worth watching,it depicts of a story of a man who used children as his source of living through reef hunting. The film showed the beautiful and rich seas of the Philippines, especially in the Visayan region.Congratulations to the whole cast and crew.