Hello Love Again Review – Alden Richards, Kathryn Bernardo

Can love really be sweeter the second time? Here’s my Hello Love Again Review starring Kathryn Bernardo, Alden Richards and directed by Cathy Garcia-Sampana!

The love story of Ethan and Joy didn’t have a happy ending as what we were led to believe as things are so messed up and whack that we are sucked into two hours of will they or won’t they shenanigans and “kilig” moments.

The setting has moved away from busy Hong Kong and into the more chill setting of Canada and I loved how they broke down the story and why the two have become estranged from one another in a span of a few years. Obviously, the bigger hook for viewers to tune in is finding out the reason these two broke up.

The film also tackles about living abroad, particularly in Canada where a lot of Filipinos have chosen to migrate before and even after the pandemic. And just like other ABS-CBN and GMA movies, they did an OK job of portraying how difficult it is to live abroad and how Pinoys often go through three or more jobs just to be able to keep up with life in the Great White North.

On Kathryn and Alden’s pairing, I think they have good chemistry. The pair pulls off the right “kilig” when especially the moments where they have this awkward “will-they-won’t-they” situations. I’m also surprised that Bernardo’s shedding off her Pinoy sweetheart image and starting to more more “mature” scenes which was tastefully done and didn’t expose anything NSFW. It was shot with a deeper appreciation for romance in mind.

Individually, I thought Kathryn Bernardo had a bigger win here showing different sides and range from rage to despair and of course happiness. The highlight for me was that soul-crushing moment she contacts Ethan only to discover that her lover half the world away just got out of bed with somebody else. Then she starts weeping and you feel her anguish and her pain. Alden Richards also had a couple of good moments here but there were still times that I thought that he wasn’t hitting the right acting level for the scene. I did get sad for that key moment when he’s baring his soul to Joy and she can’t do anything for him. That was heartbreaking and a tip of the hat to Alden for that.

The supporting cast was also excellent with Joross Gamboa getting high marks for his excellent performance as Jhim, Ethan’s BFF and the guy responsible for bringing Ethan back to Canada. Valerie Concepcion and Jennica Garcia was also fun characters with the latter I feel being underused. Ate girl turned into a kontrabida by the end of the film and it could have been given a few more scenes then wrapped up.

Some people thought the ending was weak and I have to concur; citing it took a letter from a supporting character to completely change Joy’s mind about her decision to leave Ethan. It felt that there could have been other stuff that could be used to make the catalyst for change work better. Still the actual ending was satisfying for me and I would probably be pissed if they squeezed this more with a third installment. I mean honestly, the first movie, Hello Love Goodbye, was already good as it is.

Hello Love Again Review – Verdict

9/10

Great moments, nice twist, funny and competent supporting cast and strong acting from Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards makes this a good movie to catch over the weekend. Special thanks to BDO for inviting me to their special screening.

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