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New Poster for Johnnie To's upcoming movie ROMANCING IN THIN AIRPosted on 11 Nov 2011 |
SYNOPSIS: When a tycoon’s daughter is found dead after being rescued from abduction, he appoints his ex-bodyguard to avenge her death by not only hunting down and exterminating everyone responsible for the abduction but also videotaping the process of each “execution”. Instead of feeling liberated, the tycoon becomes more perturbed on watching the tapes, lest one day he shall get retribution himself for all the killings.
In the end, the ex-bodyguard manages to track down the mastermind behind the abduction, who turns out to be the female personal assistant of the tycoon’s daughter. The tycoon determines to carry out the final execution himself, only to discover she is the mother of a 2-year-old girl. Will he pull the trigger and make an orphan out of this innocent soul? That is the question.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Produced by Johnnie To and directed by his long-time assistant director, Law Wing-Cheong, “Punished” marks another worthy entry in Milkyway’s prolific filmography.
A wayward, spoilt daughter of a tycoon, Wong (Anthony Wong) is kidnapped and found dead in a trench after ransom is paid. Unable to cope with her sudden death and his desire to avenge his beloved daughter, Wong enlists his chauffeur cum assistant, Chor (Ritchie Jen) to track down her killers and tape their deaths for him to watch.
In the hands of other directors, “Punished” might turned out to be a plain bloody, violent affair. But then when it comes to a Milkway production, you can trust the good folks there to deliver the goods. Like the excellent “Infernal Affairs”, themes of retribution and karma are constantly touched on. “Punished” works in a way that it keeps throwing questions at the audience as we follow Chor on his investigations. Does killing her daughter’s kidnappers quell Wong’s mind? Revenge is best served cold; however does it resolve the guilt surrounding the loved ones? How about holding a Buddhist ceremony to release fish from captivity so that one can sleep in peace?
You might even argue the spoilt brat who indulges in drugs and partying deserves her death or in this case, her untimely death is basically retribution to her unscrupulous business-dad. Its questions liked this that makes this crime drama interesting. And by the way, if you are expecting a straight-forward action thriller, “Punished” will sorely disappoint you with its minimal action sequences and for the record, it even lack the eye-pleasing visual, fanciful cinematography found in the usual Johnny To’s movies.
Milkway’s regulars Anthony Wong are excellent as the tortured Wong while Ritchie Jen on the other hand looks kinda out-of-place as a resourceful, ex-prisoner who is also having a tough time reconciling with his estranged son. For a minute, I thought Lau Ching Wan or Louis Koo would make a better choice for the role of Chor. Nevertheless, the cast is well rounded-up by veterans such as Lam Lee, TVB actress Maggie Cheung and singer Candy Lo.
Another plus point is that “Punished” is one of those few movies that is produced without interference from the Mainland authorities or tailored to cater to their stringent censorships thus if you are a fan of Johnnie To’s works or any of Milkway productions, “Punished” is an unmissable, no-frills crime drama that Hong Kong is so adept in doing.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Dialogue is clear for the Mandarin audio track and perhaps intentional for the less than active surround effects and visual is passable.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
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First trailer for Jingle Ma's action romance SPEED ANGELSPosted on 11 Nov 2011 |
SYNOPSIS: Three friends Fook Yuen, Luk Wong and Sao Lee are three out-of-luck urbanites who spend their days in the unemployment center. To help Luk earn money for his marriage to girlfriend Fiona, the three try out street performance. During one of their performances, they defeat an American professional wrestler and the video becomes a sensational online. Soon, the wrestler's promoter offers the three a large sum of money to take on three American wrestlers in a telecast match. With the help of Fiona's former wrestler father, the three losers train to take on the biggest challenge of their lives...
MOVIE REVIEW:
This reviewer is probably one of the very, very, very few people who don’t have access to cable TV. Maybe that explains why he hasn’t heard of TVB’s “Liza and the Three Gods”, a long running variety show which apparently is very, very, very funny. The “Three Gods” are comedians Louis Yuen, Wong Cho Lam and Johnson Lee. Correct this ignorant columnist if he is wrong, but the TV show features lots of side splitting gags and is very, very, very successful. How else would you explain the show’s leap to the big screen to become a full length feature movie?
The story’s protagonists are three unemployed friends Luk Wong, Fook Yuen and Sao Lee, who come together to, well, make merry. Oh, sorry – there is actually a plot here. They are supposed to help Luk Wong get married. After proposing to his girlfriend, Luk Wong’s future father in law demands that he will allow the marriage only if the poor guy can come up with $500,000 for the downpayment of their future apartment. So, the three friends begin their adventure to devise ways to come up with the money.
If you are a fan of TVB productions, you’d not be surprised with the outlandish style of comedy applied to the 89 minute movie. Irrelevant and illogical plot developments aside, the three men try their very best to make you smile, giggle, chuckle and roar in laughter. They try very hard indeed – from engaging themselves in toilet gags to putting on makeup and shiny dresses for a cross dressing act. We understand all the filmmakers want to do is to milk some laughs and have everyone crack up at the Chung Shu Kai directed comedy, but if one isn’t a fan of the “Three Gods” (aka the titular “Fortune Buddies”), then there isn’t much this movie can offer.
On the flipside, you may be confused with what the movie is trying to get at, and in a worse situation, become irritated and frustrated with the directionless comedy. But hey, how about an exercise of identifying familiar faces amongst the star studded (for TV’s standards, at least) cast? There’s Eric Tsang, Fiona Sit, Maggie Cheung, Michael Tse, Fala Chen, Lam Suet and many other celebrities you may have seen on other TVB productions.
While this should have been a TV movie, die hard fans of TVB shows will have no qualms with the unecessary jokes and contrived product placements. We don’t know about you, but somehow this would have worked better if it was a Chinese New Year release, a season where everyone feels more festive, generous and charitable.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The visual transfer of the movie is fine, and points go the local distributor who decided to include the Cantonese soundtrack together with the badly dubbed Mandarin one.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by John Li
SYNOPSIS: She is a young, aggressive Beijing-based real estate agent from Hong Kong carrying an affair with a married man who also happens to be her boss. He is an honest but way too rigid policeman in his midlife crisis, who remains single to take care of his kid brother. While he becomes infatuated with her, finding her pronunciation of his name the most dulcet tune he has ever heard, she is wrestling with being dumped by her boss and fired from her job at the same time. She eventually runs off to Hong Kong after borrowing almost his entire savings. She then realizes he is the one for her. She comes back to Beijing to look for him, only to find out he is dying of vascular dementia
MOVIE REVIEW:
We know Hong Kong director producer (and did you know that he takes on the role of cinematographer as well?) Andrew Lau can make good police drama movies. We loved the Infernal Affairs series which he co directed with Alan Mak. Confession of Pain (2006) is one of the most heartfelt cop dramas we have ever seen. However, last year’s Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen was somewhat a letdown. This year, the filmmaker decides to divert his attention to something softer – a tearjerker drama. How does it play out? Unfortunately, not very well.
Pout lipped Shu Qi (If You Are The One) plays a beautiful real estate agent who, under the power of the scriptwriter’s pen, becomes drunk at a karaoke bar and throws up on a cop played by Liu Ye (Beginning of the Great Revival). He is an upright and honourable man who women would want to rely on. She, on the other hand, is a Beijing based Hong Kong citizen who enjoys the high life. As the story would have it, he quickly falls for her despite her affair with a married man. Touched by true love, she gradually abandons her materialistic values. But what’s a drama without some ups and downs? Our male protagonist begins to suffer from a dementia.
Well, we did mention earlier that this is a tearjerker, didn’t we? However, the cynic in us didn’t find ourselves crying buckets of tears over this overly predictable drama. It doesn’t help that Shu’s character isn’t the most likeable high maintenance b**** we’ve seen in movies. While the pretty actress does deliver a decent performance (watch out for a long crying scene along an alleyway), it doesn’t come across as spectacular. Her efforts have paid off though, considering her Best Actress nomination at the recent Golden Horse Awards (the trophy went to Jeannie Yip from A Simple Life).
Elsewhere, to no one’s surprise, Liu does a wonderful job of playing the respectably righteous male character which may be screwed up by a less capable actor. Anthony Wong (The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake) shows up (again!) a friend who does nothing more than create screen presence. The gems of this movie are Chinese Olympian gold medalist Tian Liang and Fairy Zeng in a side plot involving an autistic younger brother and his love interest.
Despite the cast’s commendable performances, the 121 minute movie is a drag. Yes, we understand how Lau is injecting a Mainland Chinese angle to the entire production so that it will increase the box office takings at the end of the day – but is it us or does it feel rather contrived? We can take it if the movie is done in such a way that the point is brought across succinctly and without going into unnecessary melodrama, but this overcooked production is a little too hard sell for our liking.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
There is nothing to complain about the movie’s visual transfer. It is presented in its original Mandarin soundtrack.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by John Li
Genre: Comedy
Director: Jeff Lau
Cast: Eason Chan, Ekin Cheng, Karen Mok, William So, Jaycee Chan, Kenny Bee, Stephy Tang, Sitar Tan, Huang Yi
RunTime: 1 hr 40 mins
Released By: Shaw, InnoForm Media & Homerun
Rating: PG
Official Website:
Opening Day: 8 December 2011
Synopsis: Ten thousand years ago eight gods fought incessantly, not realizing that by doing so they were securing their own demotion into the secular world. They can only return to heaven once they come to understand one another and can get along with each other harmoniously. Ten thousand years later the stereotypical Hong Kong girl Zhong Xiaoming, and her smart and eccentric father Ah B, have no idea why they are being chased up for a debt. Having no alternative, they flee from Hong Kong to Guangdong to search for the girl’s unreliable mother Jia Jia to find out the reason. Jia Jia had cheated somebody out of a deposit to set up a concert which is impossible for her to realize. She is placed on a blacklist by Boss Zhou Dong because she has no way of honouring that deposit. Whilst the father and daughter are fleeing to Guangdong, they meet by chance all kinds of “wise and hip” people. What then unfolds is an urban romance full of jokes which could “startle the universe and move the gods”. Although the concert is held as scheduled, something else happens unexpectedly. Seven people including Xiao Ming discover that they are the gods who have been transformed into humans but they wonder why the eighth god has not appeared at all. In the meantime, the equilibrium which has just been established is thrown into disarray by the arrival of a love affair onto the scene. People and gods, men and women, life and death, love and hate… 2011 passes by as we are waiting for the dawn of peace in this world and we wish you and your loved ones well success and prosperity!
Movie Review:
Nineteen years after his ‘The Eagle Shooting Heroes’ became one of the comedy classics of the Hong Kong film industry, writer/director Jeff Lau returns with an unofficial sequel set in modern-day China. Bearing the same Chinese title as his earlier but with the year 2011 added at the end, it sees Jeff at his most inspired in recent years- though like most of his works, it is as likely to entertain those looking for some wacky fun as it is to frustrate those looking for something called plot or character.
And we must admit- there is very little of either, both of which are probably little more than excuse to string up a whole line-up of madcap ‘mo lei tau’ antics. Fans of his will surely be familiar with what to expect from him, but the unaccustomed may probably take some time to get used to the slew of bizarre, peculiar and downright absurd smorgasbord of garish costumes, wacky hairdos and outlandish CG effects. The concoction is potent, so you’d best be prepared to check your brains at the door if you must to enjoy it as it is.
To accompany him on this journey into the wild and weird, Lau has assembled an all-star cast including Eason Chan, Karen Mok, Ekin Cheng, Jaycee Chan, Huang Yi, Kenny Bee and Stephy Tang. It’s a crowded ensemble all right, and with the exception of Eason and Karen, the rest have to contend with being just supporting actors. Karen plays Xiaoming, a rebellious rocker-type punk with an immense distrust of both her father Ah B (Kenny Bee) and of the opposite sex. One can’t blame her- her father’s music career has fallen by the wayside after falling in love with her high school classmate Jia Jia (Huang Yi).
Jia Jia owes a Mainland tycoon Zhou Dong (Eason Chan) a huge debt, and when she is kidnapped, Xiaoming and Ah B rush to her rescue. Zhou Dong wants Ah B to stage a reunion concert of ‘The Wynners’ (yes, the real-life five-member boyband consisting of Bee, Alan Tam, Bennett Pang, Danny Yip and Anthony Chan- all of which make cameo appearances in the film) and unless Ah B makes it happen, Zhou Dong will kill Jia Jia. En route to meet Zhou Dong, the father and daughter pair meet a wannabe actor Wen (William So hamming it up with a thick accent), a rich girl Jade (Tan Weiwei) who only wants to pursue her musician dreams and her bodyguard Bing (Jaycee Chan), as well as a single father Da Xiong (Ekin Cheng) working as a small dumpling chef to support his son.
Jeff uses the first half hour of the movie to introduce all his characters, and if you don’t already know them by this time, you probably won’t at all. The disparate group is brought together by a legend that tells of seven immortals who have been fighting incessantly over the years to defeat their eighth counterpart, despite failing at every attempt. And just like that, the film morphs into a superhero movie, with each of the seven heroes suddenly finding renewed purpose in their lives helping those in need. And again before you know it, it becomes a romance between Zhou Dong and Xiaoming, the latter’s identity concealed from the former behind a mask.
You could of course criticise it for being all over the place, and that it is- but it is precisely this messiness in which Jeff’s films have been known to thrive. Which other Hong Kong film have you seen someone (ok, a superhero in this instance) deflect a piece of falling debris with his quiff? Or yet another superhero (Ekin’s dumpling chef to be precise) deal with a pair of bank robbers by wrapping them inside two giant dumplings? That’s the kind of outrageous humour Jeff has been known for, and there is plenty of that zany creativity on display.
And in between the ‘mo lei tau’ gags are more intelligent digs at reality, such as William So’s wanna be gungfu actor who’s claimed to have studied Wing Chun from the two Ip Man movies, or even more personal ones like Kenny Bee’s real-life inspired character as a has-been pop idol. There are also some lessons specific for the Mainland audience (after all, the budget for this movie did come from China), like the avariciousness of local property tycoons exemplified by Eason’s Zhou Dong and the emphasis on forgiveness over revenge and payback. It may sound haphazard, but Jeff does a surprisingly deft job blending these elements together.
He also has a most capable cast to thank for it. Eason and Karen share good chemistry together onscreen, and their romantic misadventures provide some of the film’s more tender moments. Jeff also has given Kenny one of his most significant endeavours of late, and the latter (who also starred in the original ‘Eagle Shooting Heroes’) rewards his mentor’s trust with a well-calibrated comedic performance. Kenny serves too as art consultant on the film, and contributes his voice to the songs in the film- including a remixed version of the original theme song and the Turtles’ ‘Happy Together’.
Jeff’s sheer energy is matched with a sharp score which complements the tonal shifts between screwball and romantic in the film. Of course, that energy means that the film also goes in all different directions whenever it wants to- though this time, we found much inspiration behind the inanity. It won’t please everyone, and neither do we suspect that it intends to, but if you’re keen on some wacky fun not often had in Chinese cinema, strap in and let the clash of East and West take you on a journey you will probably never expect.
Movie Rating:
(Zany madcap fun full of the kind of ‘mo lei tau’ gags that will delight fans of veteran Hong Kong ‘king of comedy’ Jeff Lau)
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: All the animals at the Franklin Park Zoo love their kind-hearted caretaker, Griffin Keyes. Finding himself more comfortable with a lion than a lady, Griffin decides the only way to get the girl of his dreams is to leave the zoo and find a more glamourous job to win her over. The animals, in a panic, decide to break their time-honored code of silence and reveal their biggest secret: they can talk! To keep Griffin from leaving, they decide to teach him the rules of courtship - animal style!
MOVIE REVIEW:
You know why the once great MGM is always in a financial turmoil? Because of wrong investment liked this one. Mystery solved.
Of all the specs Hollywood gets each year, MGM and Columbia greenlit another comedy about talking animals, “Zookeeper”. Haven’t they heard of the disastrous “Furry Vengeance” last year? Kevin James plays Griffin Keyes, a zookeeper who loves his job but has a hard time trying to settle down with his on-off girlfriend, Stephanie (Leslie Bibb). And did I mention Stephanie finds his job unglamorous in the first place. The animals at the Franklin Park Zoo decide to break their code of silence and impart their tips on courtship over to Griffin.
The plotting as expected is as thin as ice. You can’t do without physical gags such as Kevin James falling on his back. He did that in “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” and “Grown Ups” so what’s new. Rosario Dawson plays Griffin’s co-worker together with Ken Jeong who is here for an easy paycheck. And those talking animals? Let’s see. Nick Nolte voiced a gorilla who craved for a night out at TGIF. Sylvester Stallone while preparing for another stint in “The Expendables 2” chips in as a lion. That singer Cher is a lioness. “Iron Man” helmer Jon Favreau ditches Iron Man 3 to voice a bear. Judd Apatow inbetween his raunchy comedies is an Elephant on a diet. Adam Sandler, the biggest culprit of all (he is the producer as well) voices a monkey and the list goes on.
We shan’t bother you with the long list of voice talents and the credited five writers including James himself. The only salvaging fact here is the CG effects by Sony Imageworks which are flawless and the visual aspect of it is so pleasing to the eyes that it passes off as a superior looking zoo catalogue. The hardest working crew perhaps belongs to Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr, the duo responsible for the original Terminator and Aliens design for coming up with a life-like animatronics talking gorilla.
Director Frank Coraci (Click, The Wedding Singer) who probably got the directing gig from his frequent collaborator Adam Sandler fails to replicate the success of The Wedding Singer as he fumbles with both the animal gags and the romance factor. “Zookeeper” is a well-meaning comedy that is tailored more to younger kids than adults. It’s flat and outright predictable for most of the time unless you are closet fan of talking animals and their silly antics.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Laughing is Contagious– Blooper Reel is a painful segment where you constantly see Kevin James making funny faces.
Creature experts Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr talk about the difficulties of working with an animatronics gorilla in Bernie the Gorilla.
A segment dedicated to the real animals that are featured in the movie in The Furry Co-Stars.
Creating the Visual Effects takes a look at the visual effects employed to blend real and digital animals and also how a stuntman substituting a CG ostrich has to carry Kevin James on his back. Poor guy.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Zookeeper looks fantastic on DVD, excellent detailing and pristine colour. Dialogue and mostly ambient sound filled the soundstage in this otherwise forgettable comedy.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: War/Drama
Director: Kim Han-min
Cast: Park Hae-il, Ryoo Seung-yong, Moon Chae-won, Kim Mu-yeol
Runtime: 2 hr 2 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence and Intense Sequences)
Released By: Festive Films & Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website: http://www.facebook.com/WarOfTheArrowsSG
Opening Day: 29 March 2012
Synopsis: Nam-yi, the greatest archer that Joseon ever saw must take on an entire troop of enemies on his own in order to save his sister. Jiusinta is the master archer from the continent who must protect his prince and his men from relentless prying arrows of Nam-yi. In this battle of kill or be killed which will only end when the arrow penetrates one of their hearts, bow and arrow is the weapon of choice. Light and mobile, bow is ideal for chase and ambush. It is also very efficient in inflicting the most lethal damage during a stealth attack. Although archery is normally regarded as subsidiary weapon in battles, it was reinterpreted as a deadly primary weapon in this war.
Nam-yi who must infiltrate the enemy camp all on his own, makes an effective use of his curved bow and the 300k/h super fast short arrows to stir havoc for the Qing’s elite unit, Niru. The leader of the unit, Jiusinta counters with his exceptionally powerful and destructive horn bow. Also known as ‘half-pounder,’ this longbow launches an arrow whose arrowhead alone weighs over half a pound. The powerful arrow is capable of easily severing grown men’s limbs upon impact..
Movie Review:
The very mention of arrows in a movie makes us think of Legolas. You know, that dude in The Lord of the Rings trilogy? The elf with straight silky golden locks who never misses when he shoots his unlimited supply of arrows? While Orlando Bloom has made quite an impression with that suave character, the arrow shooting men in this Korean production are a different breed altogether. They are rough, ragged and, well, to put it simply, manly.
Set during the second Manchu invasion of Korea, the manliest one of them all in this movie has to be the protagonist played by Park Hae Il, who goes against the Qing Dynasty to save his younger sister. He also happens to be the best archer in Korea, but because his father was killed as a traitor, one can imagine how limited his future in the country is. One unfortunate follows another, when his younger sister is abducted during her wedding ceremony. Thus begins the quest to save her sister and her husband from the Qing army. In the process, countless arrows are shot, and as you’d expect from a revenge movie, there will be lots of blood.
Director Kim Han Min’s work was the second highest grossing movie in Korea last year, and it is not difficult to see why. The fast paced epic action movie boasts of exhilarating sequences which will keep you at the edge of your seats. While you may wonder how a war of arrows can possibly be exciting, you will be thrilled by the perfect execution and choreography of the battle scenes (beat that, Legolas!). The action comes at you fast and furious, and even though there aren’t many hand to hand combat, the long distance fighting is heart stopping and riveting.
The story may be based on a period of Korean history which we aren’t very familiar with, but the filmmakers make sure it doesn’t alienate foreign viewers. Essentially, it is a story about heroism, justice and revenge – universal themes which anyone can identify with. This creates a win win situation: Box office success both at home and in foreign lands.
The 122 minute production, being an action flick, does not provide many emotionally engaging moments. Not that we are complaining though, because for most of the movie, you see the protagonist either chasing his sister’s kidnappers, or the bad guys chasing him. There are invasions, battles, confrontations and quarrels. The set pieces are impressive, and there is quite a bit of decent use of computer graphics to enhance the storytelling.
The ensemble cast does a nice job of portraying the anguish and tension felt by the characters during this war of arrows. Park manages to exude a respectable charm with his predictably written character, while the fragile looking Moon Chae Won plays his sister in distress with grace and elegance. The two actors took home the Best Actor and Best New Actress at the 2011 Daejong Film Awards, an established award presented by Korea’s Ministry of Culture and Information. The film also took home the accolades for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Effects.
This undeniably enjoyable popcorn production packs just the right amount of punch and pizzazz to engage and entertain for a good two hours at the movies
Movie Rating:
(An exciting Korean movie which triumphs with its fast paced action sequences)
Review by John Li
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MARVEL STUDIOS SPONSORS GLOBAL TWITTER CHAT WITH DIRECTOR AND CAST FOR FANS AROUND THE WORLDPosted on 30 Jan 2012 |
Genre: Comedy/ Drama
Director: Namewee
Cast: Namewee, Adibah Noor, Karen Kong, AfdlinShauki, Dato’ David Arumugam, Reshmonu, Kenny & Chee, Nadine Ann Thomas, NurFathia, Dennis Lau, Dian Sharlin, Pete Teo, Ho Yuhang, Felixia Yeap
RunTime: 1 hr 48 mins
Released By: Clover Films and Cathay-Keris Films
Rating: PG (Some Coarse Language)
Official Website: -
Opening Day: 1 December 2011
Synopsis: Young Chef Huang (Namewee) struggles to get his restaurant business going because he cannot adapt to the ‘localized’ cooking his patrons are looking for. Contrary to his unpopular cuisine, he is also well-known as ‘Hero Huang’ in the neighborhood where he helps the local community, until he met Xiao K (Karen Kong) who got him into deep trouble. In order to get his life and the restaurant business back on track, Chef Huang must now seek help from a mysterious lady who runs a hawker stall (Adibah Noor)… She summons him to embark on the extraordinary journey of his life. During this self-enlightening experience, he will also meet many ’local heroes’ each lending their support to help him re-discover his roots and the real hidden message of ‘Nasi Lemak’.
Movie Review:
A plethora of films may be fighting for your attention this week, but don’t be so quick to dismiss this offering from across the Causeway. After all, ‘Nasi Lemak 2.0’ has already earned the honour of the most successful local Chinese-language film, no small feat considering that it had eclipsed the previous title-holder by almost twice the box-office dollar. Of course, this movie also has the advantage of being the debut film from a- shall we say- infamous personality, whose claim to infamy was to edit the country’s national theme, provoking calls from a group of Malay youths in Perak to ban this debut film of his.
If they had the generosity to watch the movie before starting their protest, they probably would have called it off. Indeed, there is nothing unpatriotic here- in fact, writer/director Namewee echoes the Malaysian’s government’s call for a ‘1Malaysia’ in a light-hearted fashion without any sanctimony. Sure he does poke fun at social issues within his country, but these jibes are no more scathing than Jack Neo’s in ‘I Not Stupid’ or ‘Money No Enough’. Rather, his crowd-pleaser may just be the unlikely tool for the Government to win over an increasingly cynical and disenchanted Chinese population.
Keeping his story simple, Namewee’s story tells of a Chinese chef Huang (played by Namewee himself) who has to discover the secret recipe behind a delicious dish of ‘nasi lemak’. His journey takes the form of a road trip where he visits different ethnic families- a Malay household practising polygamy with four young pretty housewives live under one roof; an Indian household where a daughter has decided to help her father continue with the family spice business; and not forgetting an elderly Nyonya husband-and-wife pair. The multiracialism on display is of course deliberate, and Namewee uses the dish of ‘nasi lemak’ as an analogy of how different races can come together to complement each other in their multiethnic society.
It’s a contrast that won’t be lost on local audiences, given our multiracial makeup and our familiarity with the dish. Just as relevant is the apprehension Namewee’s Chef Huang shows towards his competitor in a cookery competition, Lan Qiao (Dennis Lau), the latter hailing from China. Yes, it seems our anxiety towards the influx of foreigners is also shared by our closest neighbour. Nonetheless, there are other subtleties where knowledge of context is important- such as Chef Huang’s initial disdain towards the popular street-side ‘nasi lemak’ stall run by Kak Noor (Adibah Noor), and his complaints about the partiality of the authorities towards roadside stalls run by the Chinese.
As can be expected of a first-time director, the combination of these elements results in a film that feels uneven and even disjointed at times. But there is madcap brio in Namewee’s technique, as he boldly blends different genres like Bollywood, horror, ‘mo lei tau’ comedy and of course social satire into one brew. Rough around the edges it may be, but the genuine strokes of inspiration in Namewee’s script are more than enough to forgive him for his lack of polish.
It must also mean something that Namewee has managed to assemble such an all-star Malaysian cast for his debut film. Besides singer/ actress Adibah Noor, there’s also Karen Kong who uglifies herself to play Xiao K, who enlists Chef Huang’s help to stop her unscrupulous aunt from taking control of the successful Restoran Gong Xi family business. Kong is especially lively as the kind-hearted but unattractive girl with bushy eyebrows, and is an excellent complement to Namewee his road trip.
Speaking of complement, Namewee also has a engaging soundtrack to go with the movie. You may have already seen the ‘Curry Neh’ video on Youtube, but it is just as hilarious when you watch it again in the movie. Another standout is Namewee’s ‘getai-like’ duet with Xiao K, set to the melody of a classic Chinese song but with the lyrics in broken English. There’s also the theme song of the movie, a variation of ‘Rasa Sayang’, to top it off at the end- and it is both cheeky and catchy and guaranteed to stay with you long after you leave the cinema.
Namewee’s accomplishment in making this movie of course is even more significant considering the challenges he faced in securing the budget. It’s no doubt a labour of love, and the effort he has put into the film is evident. No wonder then that this witty and entertaining crowd-pleaser has won the hearts of many Malaysians- so even though some local references may be lost on a Singaporean audience, be sure to check out why ‘Nasi Lemak 2.0’ is the top-grossing Chinese film there.
And if you need any more convincing, we’ll leave you with the MV of the movie’s theme song, a personal favourite of ours:
Movie Rating:
(Lively, witty and utterly entertaining social portrait from across the Causeway)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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