Netizens impressed by Mars Ravelo’s Darna pilot week, commend Jane de Leon’s performance | ABS-CBN

ADVERTISEMENT

dpo-dps-seal
Welcome, Kapamilya! We use cookies to improve your browsing experience. Continuing to use this site means you agree to our use of cookies. Tell me more!

Netizens impressed by Mars Ravelo’s Darna pilot week, commend Jane de Leon’s performance

Netizens impressed by Mars Ravelo’s Darna pilot week, commend Jane de Leon’s performance

Mary Ann Bardinas

 | 

Updated Aug 20, 2022 10:08 AM PHT

Clipboard

Three years after Jane de Leon was hailed as the new generation Darna, we finally witnessed her take her highly anticipated first-ever flight as the iconic Pinay superheroine just on the pilot week of Mars Ravelo’s Darna that premiered last August 15.

Promising pilot week

The maiden episode immediately brought us to the edge of our seats as it commenced with the character of Ketchup Eusebio clinging for dear life as he held on to one of the fragments of a collapsed building but lost his grip. The camera then flawlessly panned to the rubble, wherein Narda’s unconscious body until she heard rumbling from above and a glowing magical stone with “DARNA” emblazoned on it fell from the sky out of nowhere. She grabbed and swallowed it, teasing us to her transformation to Darna.

But before we reached that exciting part, the viewers were taken first to the origins of the first and new Darna, whose alter-egos are Leonor (Iza Calzado) and Narda (Jane). While the first Darna’s backstory was narrated through a well-executed animation based on the comic book created by her human partner (Joem Bascon) many years ago, which their kids thought was fictitious. Narda’s journey was revealed to have started when she was still a baby as the stone glowed when she touched it, indicating that it chose her to be the next in line.

Thus, in order to prepare her for the huge responsibility, Leonor rigorously trained Narda, which the latter assumed as a mere training for safety, self-defense, and protection of her younger sibling Ding.

ADVERTISEMENT

But Leonor’s scorching and breathtaking battle with an extraterrestrial creature as Darna led to Narda’s discovery of her mother’s real identity and purpose in training her after she witnessed firsthand her transformation from the mighty heroine back to her human form.

Growing up, it was instilled to Narda and Ding by their mom the value of helping people in need. Thus, even though it would get her in trouble, she still helped Brian (Joshua Garcia) as he got embroiled in a fisticuff with their other schoolmates, and succeeded in defeating them.

While Leonor saw how prepared her firstborn already was, the teenage Narda was still doubtful with regards to her ability to protect the stone and take on her new role. The stone was in Narda’s possession when Leonor was trying to save humans from the attack of extraordinary enemies. Leonor got fatally shot and instantly vanished into flaming ashes along with the powerful stone.

The tragic death of their mother indeed made Narda blame herself for what happened. As she still grieves, she seemingly found an instant friend in Janella Salvador’s character Regina when they met at the place where both of them used to have happy memories.

Fast forward to four years later, Leonor’s death has still taken a toll on the lives of her children, with Narda having to quit school and focus on earning money in order for Ding to finish her education. To make both ends meet, she works odd jobs that includes being a cashier at a mini grocery.

This was where she first encountered the doting father-miner, who would later on become the notorious monster dubbed “Strength Man” – compellingly portrayed by Jerald Napoles – after he got struck by one of the fragments of a green crystal used to be possessed by the Martean cyborg that the first Darna encountered. It instantly turned him into a monster that spread scare, destruction, and death in their once peaceful town, with Narda even attempting to stop him when he attacked at the grocery store where she worked.

Despite doing so, her employer still fired her, forcing her to find other sources of income – from doing live selling with her bestie Mara (Joj Agpangan) and hunting for a job. Little she did know that Ding was not coming to school anymore after his teacher kicked him out for not being able to pay his tuition fee, which he only found out through their gossip-monger neighbor Rubi (Viveika Ravanes). She caught Ding in the act of playing computer games, which ensued to an emotive confrontation scene between them.

This fueled her to continue searching for a job, until she came across the posting of Regina’s family foundation looking for more trainees in their emergency and rescue operations. She eventually got accepted, thanks to the doctor whose life she saved who backed her application, and started with the training. Ding, on the other hand, also tried to help out with their financial woes by accepting a dubious delivery order, but ended up in jail after it was discovered that the paper bag handed to him contained illegal drugs.

After saving her younger brother from jail the night before, Narda was able to save more people the following day when “Strength Man” attempted to rob a bank. Thanks to her alertness and bravery, she was able to immediately call Brian for the police to quickly act on it. Because of this, she was able to pass the training and become a full-fledged emergency medical technician.

Narda immediately had to go an important mission when the Anti-Poverty Center in their town collapsed and got engulfed by fire. And the setting was surely familiar to avid viewers as this was what we saw in the opening scene.

The last gap of the fifth episode showed what transpired before the first scene in the inaugural episode. She was about to rescue Ketchup’s character, but lost her balance when the ground shook. This caused her to lose consciousness, only to be awakened by Leonor’s voice and presence telling her that she’s ready to take on the responsibility.

Even though she still doubts her capabilities, she just holds on to what her mom told her and swallowed the powerful stone with “DARNA” engraved on it that fell from the sky out of nowhere. And the moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally happened, as we get to finally see Jane’s much-awaited transformation to and first-ever flight as Darna. She indeed wowed us with her super strength and extraordinary speed as he was able to rescue and evacuate many people from the ruins.

And the trailer for next week’s episode was already shown, teasing us with the action-packed and intense fight scenes of Darna and Brian, as well as the highly anticipated transformation of Janella into iconic villainess Valentina. Are you excited as us to see more pasabogs and exhilarating scenes of Mars Ravelo’s Darna? Well, you better not miss an episode!

Netizens were indeed all praises to Mars Ravelo’s Darna and every people who have become part of it. Each members of the awesome ensemble cast did a job well-done in portraying their respective characters and in providing support to their castmates with regards to their performances.

Her stint may be only short, but Iza Calzado made sure that it’s going to be memorable as she astounded us with her portrayal of the first Darna, a.k.a. Leonor. Her remarkable performance even made netizens wish for her to have her own movie, or perhaps a prequel, as the iconic Pinay superheroine.

Being a neophyte then in showbiz, the management’s decision to pick Jane de Leon to become the new Darna in 2019 was indeed met with mixed reactions from viewers and fans of the iconic character. But she totally slayed in the first five episodes, especially when she donned the iconic red and gold Darna costume in the last episode for this week.

Everybody is also looking forward on seeing more of Joshua Garcia in the upcoming episodes, as well as of Janella Salvador and her highly anticipated transformation into Valentina. We also surely couldn’t miss the compelling performances of the supporting cast whose characters were already introduced in the pilot week. It may just be a cameo role, but Jerald Napoles truly enthralled with his versatility and talent as an actor as he took on his totally unique role that showcased his prowess in drama, horror, and action, which we don’t see often.

Aside from the actors’ performances, netizens also commended its technicalities. They got amazed by the cinematography, impressed by the computer-generated effects and graphics, and delighted by how brave the series is in tackling political and social issues on national television. Besides, the brilliant directors and writers are also commendable for being able to play around the characters of the supporting cast by giving them significant roles in the journeys of the lead characters.

Thus, topics and hashtags related to the episodes of Mars Ravelo’s Darna made it to the top trending topics on Twitter in the past five days. Here are some of the rave feedbacks from our beloved Twittizens:

Never miss an episode of Mars Ravelo’s Darna, weeknights at 8PM on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, A2Z, iWantTFC, and TFC. You may also watch episode highlights on ABS-CBN Entertainment's official website and YouTube Channel.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

It looks like you’re using an ad blocker

Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker on our website.

Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker on our website.