New Generation Heroes is bloated with unnecessary drama

I just have to add, this poster is horrible

There's a scene in Anthony Fernandez' New Generation Heroes that perfectly encapsulates what the film is all about: in the last scene of the film, Anita Linda makes an inspirational speech about teachers. It's all well and good until the speech begins to drag. By this time, the film decides to cut out to reaction shots of the crowd (even obviously reusing some shots) to try in vain to keep one's attention. By the time the speech was finished, I no longer remembered what the speech was about, except that lesson plans are very important.

The movie starts out like a lighthearted character based drama, featuring four teachers with wildly varying backgrounds: Jao Mapa is a Grade 5 graduate who pays back his community by giving lessons to poor kids and street children. He befriends Anita Linda, a retired and distinguished principal (for what, the movie never elaborates.) Aiko Melendez is a foreign language teacher based in Korea who faces family issues at home, and Joyce Penas is a hardworking teacher/single mom who sidelines a lot to support her two sons.

That said, the film isn't well written. We're supposed to marvel at Anita Linda's teaching skills, but aside from one bizarre sequence involving a random home invader we don't really know why we should do so. Aiko Melendez's story arc takes a bizarre turn and even segues into an aborted EJK/Drug War commentary that is completely unnecessary. For the film's second half the film seems to forget that its about teachers, instead deciding to focus on irrelevant drama. Only Joyce Penas' story arc has any sort of emotional heft, and even that is marred by an awkward sequence with her gay son coming out to her.

As an advocacy film, the movie takes its time to explain a few things about teachers, such as community support for volunteer teachers and OFW teachers who want to return home. But these things are buried deep under fluff, and the advocacy becomes lost in the noise. New Generation Heroes is a movie that could have ended harmlessly an hour early, but instead decided to overstay its welcome.