Resiklo

Premise

Set in December 2021, Resiklo is the story of Crisval Sarmiento, an ex-military Colonel who leads a rag-tag group of survivors in the Philippines against the insect-like alien invaders known as the Balangs meaning "locusts."Because of the enormous expenditures in resources during the invasion (hinted in the movie's opening credits), the humans are forced to scavenge the destroyed landscape for anything that could be recycled and put to use at their secret sanctuary, called Paraiso (Paradise in English).

However, they are in a race against time, as in addition to the resource gathering, the survivors are fighting to eliminate the Balangs and their human collaborators, the Mutanos (mutated humans), while keeping Paraiso's location secret and along the way, uncovering the truth behind the invasion as well.

Cast

International releases

In Japan, Resiklo was retitled Transbattler (トランスバトラー), with a movie poster emphasizing the presence of giant robots in the story and playing on the popularity of the Transformers franchise.

Critical reception

The movie garnered mixed to average reviews.

The CBCP's CINEMA (Catholic Initiative for Enlightened Movie Appreciation) gave the film a score of three out of five stars, stating it as a straight and simple sci-fi movie with an "ensemble cast that acts out the story."

The mecha action scenes were dismissed as copycats of the battle scenes from Transformers. Director Mark Reyes insisted that such was not the case, stating that the concept for the movie was made before the Hollywood film was in development.