Basic Love 愛情故事 (2009) – Hong Kong

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An average film with some decent performances…

Review by Neo: Without being a total pessimist, the latest directorial effort from Oxide Pang is really an average one. It is also the first time that Oxide is working without his brother Danny either as a co-director or producer. Going alone allows Oxide Pang to venture away from the ghostly/horror genre that the Pang brothers are now so famous for. However, going into a genre that is already filled with clichés of youth romances and coming of age dramas is not exactly going to light anything on fire. Likewise, Oxide is unable to instil a fresh feeling, but luckily, as with most of his films, Pang have a great eye for things and his show not tell principle do provide the audience with something to follow, even if it is at times rather blend and predictable. With that being said, newcomers Elanne Kong and Janice Man both turn in their best performances of their short careers and for that, it can only be a credit to director Oxide for giving them the room in fulfulling that potential.

The story is basically about two girls and one guy. As predicted, one of the girls like the guy and the guy somehow like the other girl. Then as the way things are and along the lines of many Japanese, Korean and Hong Kong romance dramas, the girl will have some sort of terminal disease. There you go, I can and should stop right there, before I make the movie even more predictable than it already is.

Elanne Kong, mostly recently seen in TVB series, EU put on a career best performance, as the girl who has cancer. Kong is not exactly pretty, her nose structure is a bit too big and her face does not have a natural look about it. However in this film, she performs best when she have no makeup on and the scenes that show her illness getting worse and worse are perhaps the most convincing and engaging. With some fine tuning, Kong can develop into something, but it remains to be seen if her hyper “over the top” cute voice can be a detrimental to the path of some more serious roles in the future. Likewise, Janice Man looks prettier than usually and impresses me for the first time. To be honest, I hardly noticed Man’s presence in See You in YouTube and here, she is given a far more juicer and difficult role than her counterpart. The way she handles the unacquainted love is worthy of complementation, and at times her willingness to pursuit portray a character that is far more humane for the audience to relate towards. Sorry, Kong, of the two girls, it can be safe to say that Man shows far more potential in her role and hopefully, it will be a platform for more trains to come.

Unfortunately, the leading male star (Rex Ho Chun-Wai) disappoints big time. Firstly, Rex does not look good enough to justify the pursuit of both Man and Kong. Secondly, Rex looks more like a girl than a guy. Thirdly, the film correctly stated one thing; Rex does look a bit like Taiwanese super idol Raine Yang. The problem here is not Rex, it is rather the casting director or the director who decided to cast him. Rex rarely displays any acting chops and his presence only adds to the woes of the film rather than helping it in any way or manner. Slack as it seems, but Rex is no match for Janice Man and Elanne Kong, as both seems to be miles ahead of him and adding to the lure of problems is that there is no chemistry. That’s a big fat shame, considering this is meant to be a tearjerker, with the audience trying their hardest to relate to the characters.

All in all, Oxide Pang have created once again a film that does not bore, but nor does it excites. The film is surely assisted by some fine tune performances from Janice Man and Elanne Kong, but ultimately let down by the weak link of the trio, in Rex Ho, who is not only unable to convince but have next to zero charisma or chemistry with the two leading ladies. At the end of day. it is ultimately the director’s fault for not trying something different. Sure, Oxide is diverging from horror to romance, but in the evidence of this, it is perhaps more assume knowledge to say the least that Oxide is far more suited in the fantasy world of horror/thriller than coming of age-youth romance. Then again, the film is called Basic Love, and Oxide Pang has certainly sticked to the basics and nothing more … (Neo 2009)

I rate it 5/10

All’s Well, Ends Well 2009 家有囍事2009 (2009) – Hong Kong

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A film of two halves…

Review by Neo: It’s been 17 years since the first All’s Well End’s Well and 12 years since the last one in 1997. Both starred Stephen Chow at the height of his fame. In essence, it is no stranger to anyone who followed Hong Kong cinema to say that it is Chow who made the films better than it should be and probably contributed to the box office success as well. In 2009, producer Raymond Chow (also starring in all three movies), decided to rehash and regenerate that kind of former glory. The problem now is that it is without Stephen Chow and a less stellar cast. Sure, Sandra Ng is still there, but she hardly qualifies as superstar quality. Luckily they managed to cast Louis Koo, aka Dark Chocolate and fellow comedian superstar Ronald Cheng. Adding to the mix is someone that has somehow caught my attention in newcomer mainland actress Miki Shen. So basically you replace Francis Ng with Louis Koo, Ronald Cheng with Stephen Chow and Maggie Cheung with Miki Shen. Sounds like a ripe off for me, but as far as Lunar Chinese New Year comedy are concerned, it really aren’t half bad. In fact, the film ends far better than the way it started off. With the first 30 minutes having the capability of making someone fall asleep, but luckily the next 45 minutes, the film somehow redeemed itself and ended up being a half decent piece of filmmaking.

The movie goes like this; Ronald Cheng is cursed and can’t marry until his older sister, Sandra Ng who looks like one of those middle aged lady with a hundred cats or dogs, tie the nods. So Cheng enlisted lady killer love doctor in the form of Louis Koo to woo his sister and then somehow make her feel the love again. Somehow, Koo runs into a cute-eyed mainland chick (played by Miki Shen) and Sandra meets a rich guy in Raymond Chow. Basically, the story does not need to make any sense, but the real problem is when some of the jokes are more annoying than funny, then it just does not feel right.

Sandra Ng is certainly reprising her role, and here she is your typical anger management lady boss who really either needs a holiday or a man to step up on her. Ng is normally a good actress, as seen in Golden Chicken and a host of other flicks, but she can also be over the top and to the point of annoyance. The issue here is that Ng is far more annoying than funny, which further adds to the insult. Luckily, Louis Koo is likable enough without doing much acting and is probably saved by his chemistry with my new flame in the light of Miki Shen. Talking of Miki Shen, I strongly believe that this girl have what it takes to be a star in Hong Kong. She is prettier than Elaine Kong or Janice Man, far better shaped than Gillian Chung and have a kind of cuteness can somewhat rival Charlene Choi. Then again, there is no doubt that I like the girl, so my judgement may be left with some reservation. Still Miki performs well for a newcomer and is probably the only shinning point in this rather uninspiring comedy. Stay tune for a photo gallery of Miki Shen on this site in the coming days.

Almost forgot to mention is Ronald Cheng who is really a hit and miss, while I liked his over acting in Dragon Loaded series, Cheng is more annoying than fun and like Ng, I am not denying the fact that both can actually act, but let’s face it, both are far more capable than this. Other actors appear here and there, including a graceful Charlene Choi’s cameo who cracked a funny joke at Sandra and the presence of Donnie Yen as a by passer, to mention a few.

So what is wrong with All’s Well End’s Well 2009 when the formula is basically the same? Remember in 1997, the film was targeted at the Hong Kong audience, filmed in Hong Kong, with Hong Kong locations and ultimately it possesses the Hong Kong feel within it. Fast forward to 2009, the film is filmed in China, the fresh faces are no longer Christy Chung and Maggie Cheung or Gigi Lai, but rather little known Miki Shen and Yao Chen. The film basically does not know what its real target audience is. The result is a film of two halves. One moment it seems to be aligning and cracking jokes in Mandarin and in another it is trying to put across the Hong Kong favour. Targeting at both Mainland and Hong Kong movies, in action films are fine, but when it comes to comedy, the Mainland style does not work for Hong Kong, and vice versa.

All in all, All’s Well End’s Well 2009 is basically a film that does not know what it really wants to achieve. Sometimes, aiming for a balance for the best of both worlds cannot be always readily achievable. It is just saying to your employee, I want this done with in a very tight budget and yet demanding the level of quality that is unreasonable given the circumstances. Director Vincent Kok has done better comedies and so have producer Raymond Chow, but those were not targeted at making money in Mainland China. It remains to be seen whether Hong Kong is still a large enough market for comedies to just target on its shores, but in the evidence of All’s Well End’s Well 2009, it remains an impossible task. Then again, I could be all wrong, considering the state of Hong Kong economy, the film somehow managed to rake in HKD$25 million from the box office, now that’s a success in any form of commercial film making … (Neo 2009)

I rate it 5/10

Speed Angels 极速天使 (2011) – Hong Kong / China

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This is a difficult film to review and in many ways it finishes so much better than the film actually deserves. Then again, that is so typical of director Jingle Ma who has a heck of making his films end on such a high emotional tear-jerking mode. Think no further than one of his earlier works “Fly Me to Polaris 星愿”. However the differences between the later and “Speed Angels” is that Polaris is easily a great character melodrama, while Angels feels rather disconnected, not exactly well-acted and the emotions seems rather manufactured than naturally depicted. That is a huge shame, considering the cast of Tang Wei, Rene Liu, Cheng Pei-Pei and a special appearance by Ma’s favourite muse Cecilia Cheung. Still, the film easily ends on a high note, but when the first 90 minutes feels like a crap movie. In making a great ending not only does it makes the audience feel undeserving, but also emotionally flawed. No matter how much you look into the film, everything feels rather superficial, trivial and at times the dialogue is almost close to full on cheesy and lame category.

Of the trio, Rene Liu gives the best performance out of the pack. Liu at times seem to be in a totally different movie altogether. Furthermore, she is also given the most difficult character out of the pack. In fact, she is most likely the only believable character that the audience can somewhat relate towards. Tang Wei does an adequate job, but is incredibly underused and her character at times seems to go nowhere either than boredom. That’s not exactly her fault, as the girl from “Lust & Caution” and more recently “Late Autumn” proved she is more than a handful in delivering character performances when required. Cecilia Cheung is without doubt wasted and most likely appeared in the movie only to add some star voltage to the movie poster and add a few extra bums on seats. However, one must admit that near the end, when Cheung pulled off a bittersweet smile, it was quite a good moment to savour. While veteran Cheng Pei-pei is next to terrible and mostly likely her most annoying performance to date. Not exactly a great way to retirement. As for the male leads, none of them showed any character or given time to be developed. In particular the villainous turn by Japanese actor Kitamura Kazuki is downright embarrassing and extremely poor overacting on his behalf.

All in all, “Speed Angels” is one of those films that never really takes off until the end and that is if you can actually get there without switching off the TV or hitting your hand on your hard rock sofa. In fact, the audience that persist till the end will be handsomely rewarded with a wonderful emotional ending that seems to be taken from another film altogether. Another feature of Ma is the good choice of music made use to maximum effect, in particular “Look at you girl” sang by Chris Ledoux. Apart from the ending and the song, the film is really nothing and most probably a film that most audience would rather miss. So why exactly is the film difficult to review? I can only say, if only the entire film was like the ending. Then again, at least there is the ending to feel good about and indeed it could have been a hell lot worse…

Neo rates it 5/10

A Very Short Life 短暫的生命 (2009) – Hong Kong

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A daring display of cinema by Dennis Law, who fails to hit the mark…

Leila Tong have finally come of age. With a brink of an age, Tong is no longer a teenager, making those 90s coming of age flicks, but a full brooded fine young beauty ready for a mature acting display. Tong is no stranger to HK media, having been working hard through the ranks of TVB in the past decade and also roaming through B-Movies like The House of Invisibles along the way. At 27, Leila is finally back on the big screen for a juicy role and for one observer such as myself who have seen a lot of her career’s work, her performance here is stunning to say the least and easily her best display after 19 years in the industry. As for the film, it must be praised and blessed for HK cinema, to still have directors who are willing to invest in movies made for Hong Kong, rather than broadening the horizon into the mainland China. Director Dennis Law is one of them, a self film investor who was behind the wondrous and disturbing ride presented by Herman Yau in Gong Tau; Law produces his most daring film yet. The only problem is that the film promises a lot, but just somehow, fails to hit the right buttons or the right marks.

The film goes like this: A mother (played by Leila Tong), who accidently beat her own daughter to death, but the police department head (played by Maggie Siu) suspected something more. After the child is examined, it is revealed that she have been constantly sexually abused, by her mother’s boyfriend. While the mother keeps denying that she knew anything of it, the cops attempt to use all kind of interrogation techniques to force the true out of her.

One of the major problems of director Dennis Law is his inability to stop at the right timing. A perfect example is the meant to be emotionally charged and impacting sequences of Leila attempt of suicide in the jail, but unfortunately, Law is not Johnnie To, decides to slow-mo and extent the scene, thereby minimising any impact it was meant to have. The same can probably be said in a lot of other scenes that either is irrelevant or simply a waste of footage. It is still bewildering me, why on earth did Law included characters like Eddie Cheung or Hui Siu Hung, as neither of these characters add any layer to the film, rather than simply taking up space. Perhaps, Law is helping his friends to earn a few extra bucks, and let’s hope that is the case, or else this is simply bad filmmaking.

With all the bad points explored, it’s time to ponder on some good stuff. As mentioned before, Leila Tong plays her role of a conflicted and confused mother extremely well. The way she is frightened seemed real, and despite, accidentally killing her daughter, the audience is ultimately able to relate and understand the point she is at and how the context that she lived through affected the outcome. A bravo and daring acting display from the former child actor and hopefully this will give path to a lot more opportunities for this young lady to explore her potentials. Likewise, Maggie Siu have always developed herself as a Johnnie To’s favourite in the past decade and her cold performance here at first seem as though a direct carbon copy from the Tactical Unit series, but as the film reaches its climax, there is human within her, and her interactions with her own child and later with Leila in the hospital, she just somehow managed to pull it off.

All in all, A Very Short Life is easily Dennis Law most ambitious film and probably most disturbing (if you exclude his production credits in Gong Tau), but also most disappointing. The film stops when it shouldn’t, prolong when it should have been cut and the added presence of irrelevant characters, ultimately all added up to spoil the broth. Sometimes, if you want to push a subject matter, it is no point just to take a glimpse of it, but rather one should get to the bottom of it. It is disappointing that the film have its potential, the premises and the lead actors, but nothing really follow through. It is once again, the case of what could have been and the effect is leaving A Very Short Life, in the middle of the traffic, an average film at best, nothing more and nothing less … (Neo 2009)

I rate it 6/10

Womb Ghost 惡胎 (2010) – Hong Kong

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An awful attempt at the Grudge by property developer Dennis Law…

Director Dennis Law have officially gone from decent to worst filmmaking experience. Just when you thought Bad Blood is plainly awful, wait no longer, Womb Ghosts is crap. In some ways, Law seems to have become the new Wong Jing. His commercial ability is without question, casting pop singers in Love @ First Note, re-launching Wu Jing’s career in Kung Fu roles (the decently made Fatal Contact and the better than expected Fatal Move), then the controversial issue of child abuse in A Very Short Life and even his recent low-blow in the form of Bad Blood is somewhat disguised by brutal fight sequences. However, Law is no editor or writer and at best a decent director. His problem is the nonsense and senseless prolonging of highly unnecessary and uninteresting sequences. Do we really need to see Chrissie Chau opening one door after another and Lam Suet sitting on a bench in the middle of the night? Poor filmmaking is okay, but these are usually compensated by a good editor who undoubtedly would have left these scenes as deleted sequences of a DVD special feature. Unfortunately, we are struck with everything that is incoherent, uneven, random and even boring.

Casting the popular le-mo in Chrissie Chau is probably the only recent why this film even ran its cinema run, but her acting is far from good. It must be said that fans of Chau will probably have a decent time watching her naked stomach along with some sleazy camera work to portray the budging of her greatest assets. Still, this is a potential-less performance from a talentless Hong Kong le-mo. Other people show up here and there without being consequential, other than being randomly there to collect their respective pay check. It is once again good to see Lam Suet being the standout in his relatively interesting supporting role.

All in all, Womb Ghosts is simply not scary enough to be a horror event and not thrilling enough to be considered a thriller. It is rare that a film has so little redeeming factors, but for a Dennis Law film, it is probably expected. Perhaps, Law should stop venturing into random Hong Kong issues and go back to what he does best – action films. A terrible mess of a film and giving it a miss would do you no harm at all…(Neo 2010)

I rate it 2/10

True Legend 蘇乞兒 (2010) – Hong Kong / China

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Yuen Woo Ping tries hard and manages to entertain in an uneven manner…

It’s been too long since The Blade’s Vincent Zhao last cinematic venture. The lad for all his worth was groomed to be Jet Li’s successor. For whatever reason, he disappeared off the radar and wandered into the wilderness of mainland television. Zhao lacks the on-screen charisma or likable good looks of Jet Li, but there is no doubting of his martial arts ability and his physical presence is comparable to Donnie Yen. Many would probably have forgotten that Zhao’s career got off to a storming start by simply existing under the shadows of Jet Li in roles like Wong Fei Hung and the villain in Fong Sai Yuk, before embarking on the cult classic lead role in The Blade. Impressive resume one might assume. So instead of rambling on about past laurels, Zhao makes a stunning return and one might just assume, his career is on the rebound.

The movie goes like this: Beggar So (Vincent Zhao) is army general, but gives up the position for family life. Beggar So gives all his status to his adopted brother (Andy On) and lived a life of an ordinary person. Until one day, Andy On returns home and killed Zhao’s father (Leung Ka-Yan) in avenging On’s own nemesis. The result is Beggar So escaping alive with his wife waiting for an opportunity to strike back.

Director Yuen Woo Ping is obviously in top form and there are a number of action sequences that are original enough for a mention. The fight in the snake well between On and Zhao is both innovative and fun. Hong Kong no longer has a huge luxury of upcoming kung fu star. While Vincent Zhao isn’t exactly in his twenties, but he is still young enough to relaunch a career and with a bit of luck, he may even be able to match the reinvention successes of a similar counterpart in Donnie Yen. Sure, Zhao can’t act and when he tries, more than often he is overacting in the famous Yen’s style. It remains to be seen if Zhao is given a better material, he will be able to embrace it as his own.

As usual, Zhou Xun is a wonderful actress of both quality and presence. While not exactly a conventional beaut, Xun is one heck of an actress that makes the unnatural natural. She have been constantly stealing the show in numerous epics starring as side characters, but in all honestly her acting ability is second to none in the current HK cinema. In fact, when considered on a whole, Xun is given a paper thin role with nothing to work with, yet somehow she manages to impress, engage and express.

Moving on to Andy On, he is certainly a case of missing in action. For the past decade, since his terrible debut in Black Mask 2, Andy On has showed himself to be a decent supporting actor. In fact, he was the best thing in 2003’s Star Runner, decent showdown against Jackie Chan in New Police Story. However since then, he has been almost unnoticeable in all circumstances. Perhaps, True Legend is what you call, a re-launch of young Andy’s career. While he does have some screen presence to a certain degree, his acting is too one dimensional and his villainous turn is neither memorable nor effective. The kid got martial arts potential; let’s just hope he is not suitability wasted away.

All in all, True Legend is a welcome additional to modern day HK martial arts cinema. While the 3rd act may seem like a remake of Fearless and the film suffers from some obvious coherence and uneven issues. Namely the frequently fast forward style of editing, making days goes by as fast as years. Director Yuen Woo Ping does compensate this by some blood crunching action display and even if it is a carbon copy of Fearless in the third act, there is no doubt that Yuen is simply taking a leaf out of his previous efforts. One may wonder if the film simply ended in the 2nd act, it may well be more coherent, but for me, it would have left me half-baked. So honestly, True Legend really isn’t that bad and in fact, it is quite a decent film with some good parts in between. A welcome return for Shaw Brothers and to a larger extent Mr. Vincent Zhao…(Neo 2010)

I rate it 7/10

The Stool Pigeon 綫人 (2010) – Hong Kong / China

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This is more like Beast Stalker…

Beast Stalker was a great film, filled with tension, fine acting and incredible tension. Similarly, the latest venture from Dante Lam in Stool Pigeon is a lot like the aforementioned film. The good news is the tension is there, the acting is good and the film is well directed. The bad news is that Stool Pigeon does not reach the heights of Beast Stalker. Nick Cheung reverses role with Nicholas Tse this time around. Cheung is the cop and Nicholas Tse is the stool pigeon. Cheung is now an established actor and earns his paycheck here with a gritty and emotionally complex character. Tse on the other hand is excellent and almost carries the film on his shoulders. The best thing of the lot, is once again veteran Liu Kai Chi. Liu steals the show and the effect is seen in the opening scene when he screams for help.

Stool Pigeon is a good film, but not a great film. The reason is simple, it lacks the same amount of intensive tension of its predecessor and relies much on the acting of Tse and Cheung to take the film to the end. In say that, this is by a far a much superior effort to Fire of Conscience. Dante Lam is a capable director and he is at his best, when the characters in his films are allowed to express their truest potential or perhaps when they go crazy. Think Anthony Wong in Beast Cop and Nick Cheung in Beast Stalker. While both Tse and Cheung does fine turns, but neither are memorable. The film itself is not too memorable either. Instead what we got delivered to us is a film that entertains, some interesting chases, fine acting and positive direction. Easily a good film, but not great…(Neo 2010)

I rate it 7/10

Marriage with a Liar 婚前試愛 (2010) – Hong Kong

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Typical Patrick Kong’s hopeless romance saved by breezy editing from Wong Jing…

Director Patrick Kong always forgets to edit his films and thus it becomes too long and too demeaning. Therefore, for once, Wong Jing’s cheap editing style works. In saying that, the running time is 80 minutes instead of a prolonged 100 minutes of more of the same. The problem with Kong’s film is not whether it sells or not, because it does. The flaw is that Kong offers nothing new, except for the fact that love really suck and dating and marriage is a hopeless endeavour. While it is true to a certain degree, Kong goes to the extreme and only show the worst side of a relationship. Then again, with the bumpy balls of Chrissie Chau and Carol Yeung in half naked positioning, Marriage with a Liar clearly sells.

One noticeable difference with this film and Kong’s previous, is the cheapness of the production values and look of the film. Clearly a product from the Wong Jing factory, Kong loses the glossy feeling with this effect. Honestly, who goes into a film witness an acting performance by the famed Chrissie Chau. Therefore, to judge her performance here, is extremely difficult. The fact is that she does her job here without being annoying. However the same cannot be said about Carol Yeung. While her assets are undoubtedly huge, her face is borderline unattractive and her ears are just terrible for her size. Seriously some thought should have been taken to use her hair to cover those ears, but this is not to be. Perhaps, there is such thing as ear fetish? Only Wong Jing and Kong will know for sure. As for the other two actors, they are nothing more than people to compliment the aforementioned duo of le-mo.

All in all, Marriage with a Liar is clearly a commercial success; it is basically what it is. If you have seen a Kong’s film, then there is nothing new or fresh. Love does suck to a certain degree and Kong was probably hurt quite badly in his dating experience, if you look at his movie track record as a guide. Still this is easily an improvement from movies like Marriage with a Fool and his numerous other titles. That is mainly due to some cut throat editing from Wong Jing. At the end of the day, ignoring the quality, acting, the same old Kong’s views on love, the movie works because it entertains. It entertains our eyes, ears and senses. What more, there is one scene near the ending, I was even slightly affected. This is what you call – disposable Hong Kong entertainment…(Neo 2011)

I rate it 6.5/10

Love in a Puff 志明與春嬌 (2010) – Hong Kong

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A light hearted and carefree Rom-Com of the year…

Director Pang Ho Cheung rarely disappoints and his latest venture in Love in a Puff is suitably far less self-indulgence and more carefree and fun to watch. Together with the witty and interesting dialogue co-written by last year High Noon’s Heiward Mak, Pang paces the film in almost real time fashion. From the sense of a throw-back to Woody Allen’s classic Annie Hall by breaking the third wall with characters talking about love, life, fate and smoking to the real time technique similar to the elegantly viewed Before Sunrise. Pang has created a little masterpiece, slightly underrated, easy to go under the radar, but simply a movie for film lovers to embrace.

Love in a Puff is the kind of film that isn’t overtly directed, but rather the actors are allowed space to express themselves in real-time effect. Meeting people at a random ash-can in the back alleyway of Hong Kong is easily believable. After all, for all you smokers out there, how easy is it to share a light or two with a complete stranger with the possibility of striking up a laugh or two? The answer is yes. Pang plays with these premises and goes to the extreme in depicting smokers and constantly smoking. Smoking is what connected them in the first place and former queen of comedy, Miriam Yeung glows in her role as a matured yet simple girl torn between the end of a current relationship and the hope of beginning a new one. Likewise, Shawn Yue gives a career progressing performance as her younger love interest. Despite their best efforts on screen, the duo just somehow never clicks. While the dialogue and interaction between the two is more than interesting, the only evident problem is the lack of chemistry between the two leads. Surely their age difference was taken into account during the movie, but there is something that just stops the duo from kicking in the romantic sparkles. Good friends – yes, but lovers – a definite no-no.

All in all, Love in a Puff might just feel like a lesser Pang Ho Cheung’s effort, but in fact it is exactly that carefree and fun feeling which makes this film better than it should be. It is also a return to the trashy, witty, light hearted fun not seen since his earlier works. It might not mean much, but Love in a Puff is easily the most enjoyable and carefree and light hearted Rom-Com of the year…(Neo 2010)

I rate it 8/10

Little Big Soldier 大兵小將 (2010) – Hong Kong / China

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One of the most enjoyable Jackie Chan’s movies in the last decade…

While there has always been a question or dilemma about Jackie Chan’s dramatic range or even his laughable claim of wanting to become the next Robert DeNiro. Opportunities were there to take, with films like New Police Story and Shinjuku Incident. However, his performance as a drunken cop was met with critical despite and his wooden display in the against-type serious persona was met with similar discontent. So it is refreshing to see Chan back to what he is good at: physical comedy. This does not necessary mean more action, as Chan rarely fights or even if he does, he is simply avoiding fights. What is means is that Chan is trying to be funny and the audience also finds it funny as well. Not unlike Jet Li who have now successfully transformed from action icon into an actor, with his own acclaimed role in Warlords. Little Big Soldier is hopefully what you call a breakthrough performance and perhaps a step in the right direction for the aging Chan to take.

The movie goes like this: Chan is an old soldier who pretends to be dead on the battlefield. He avoids fights and by playing dead, he managed to survive a battle where everyone dies. Going by luck, he somehow managed to capture the enemy army general. From there the two roam across the oceans and the seas encountering everything along the way.

It is a delight to witness Mr. Chan in full flight. Rarely do we see this side of Jackie and somehow we never doubted at the back of our mind. Whereas, Chan usually plays one dimensional characters as a cop, spy, agent, cop and cop. Chan is given a character and by the end of the movie, I felt that Chan have succeeded in bringing the character of the old soldier back to life. This is not an understatement, but rather a real sense of achievement. That’s not to say Chan have created something special. Perhaps, it serves as either a breakthrough or even a successful change in the right direction. There are moments in the film, where the audience laugh with Chan, escape with Chan and ultimately feel for Chan. Now that’s something is that unheard of and missing for the last 40 years of this great man career?

Lee-Hom Wang last seen in Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution, delivers a wooden yet cool performance. While he was somewhat miscast and lost in Lust, Caution. Here, he is very much in control of what he is doing. Perhaps knowing his limited range and his ability to be cool,; Lee flairs far better in this role as the future heir. His chemistry with Chan is both fun and delightful to watch. There is a fight scene by the river banks which is fun enough for someone to enjoy.

All in all, Little Big Soldier is what you call, a little successful story. It is a light hearted movie that is surprisingly engaging. With Jackie Chan in one of his best character roles, Little Big Soldier is best served after dinner. Surely action fans may be somewhat disappointed in the lack of action, but true Chan fans will know and understand that Chan have finally fulfilled a lifelong dream. To be recognised as an actor and more importantly coming out of the movie as a character rather than his larger than life public persona – Jackie Chan. I wouldn’t go to say that Little Big Soldier will be everyone cup of tea, but for anyone who have followed Chan throughout all these years, I am certain that like Chan, you too will be proud…(Neo 2010)

I rate it 8/10