2 reviews
Wong Jing has finally find a predecessor under his belt in the form of "Lan Kwai Fong 2″ director Wilson Chin Kwok-Wai and that's not a compliment in any way. In fact, the sequel to last year's commercially successful mindless entertainment "Lan Kwai Fong" is so bad that it is funny.
Director Wilson Chin is the next Wong Jing and that is nothing to be proud of. If Wong Jing's recent output is to go by, "Lan Kwai Fong 2″ is precisely what you call cheap, sexy and lowbrow. If the first film is somewhat empty, but mindless fun filled with sexy performances from Dada Chen, Jeana Ho and Shiga Lin (who is the only of the trio to returns for the sequel) and fun performances from Chen Zi-Ming, Jason Chan and Sin Lap-Man. The sequel lacks all the vital ingredients that made the first film a fun and enjoyable ride into the world of Hong Kong's iconic party scene. In fact, the film is so bad that it is funny. Some of the script writing and acting is so terrible that the film becomes filled with unintentional humour and the audience laughing at the cheap production values. When the best things coming out of the film are the cameos performances, in particular Alex Fong is a real scene stealer in an ultra-hilarious performance that singlehandedly remains the funniest and more memorable moments in the film.
Director Wilson Chin needs a seriously look in the mirror as this is by far the worst film in his short career. However, like Wong Jing's worst films, "Lan Kwai Fong 2″ will sell tickets, but if he keeps making films like these, his hands will be forever tie to cheap productions rather than the promised land of bigger budget productions. In fact, the film is filled with bad editing, poor writing, poor lighting inconsistent acting, cliché storyline and uninteresting characters compared to the original.
Shiga Lin ("Lan Kwai Fong") is far from ready to lead a film, her inexperience to handle crucial moments did not help the film. Likewise, Lin and Kevin Kwan do not have enough chemistry to justify the amount of screen time. Mia Chan is the case of the unfortunate, having to expose more than required including many unnecessary crude shots of her under garments. Perhaps Mia is following Dada Chan's ("Vulgaria") footstep, but when the focus becomes your other assets rather than actual acting, Mia is more like the victim of its circumstances. In the scene after Mia bedded Avis, her quick and unusual turn of emotions filled the audience with unintentional laughter. With Mia at the screening, one can only imagine how embarrassing it would have been. Make no mistake, Avis is one terrible actor and apart from his association with Chrissie Chau, one must wonder why someone of his acting calibre can even get a film gag. While newcomer Dominic Ho adds nothing to the preceding other than looking cool and smirking a smile, not unlike the infamous Edison Chen.
"Lan Kwai Fong 2″ contains all the hallmarks of bad filmmaking and it does not help when everyone involved somewhat contributed to the downfall. Director Wilson Chin should get the burden of the blame and should promptly sack whoever the editor was involved. The cutting of scenes affected the film flow of events and by the final third of the film, it seemed so rushed that one can be forgiven to think that the film simply went out of budget. The numerous "close up" shots is more annoying and overused and just about anything that was good in the original, director Chin somehow managed to exclude it. However, the well made finale involving the entire LKF going backward is unbelievable yet sweet, but after going through everything before, the scene is definitely out of place and undeserving of such an ending. One wonders, if the entire production budget and thoughts went into filming the final sequence, the director forgotten that he is not shooting a music video, but rather an entire movie.
With the Hong Kong film industry making lesser local productions, "Lan Kwai Fong 2″ by being sexy and riding on the fame of the first film, may yet sell a few tickets, but with its questionable and cheap quality, it certainly does not help the future of local productions. Still, there is still some fun within this film, but mostly it relates to unintentional humour and to a large degree on the laughable script writing and the bad acting involved. If the first film is mindless entertainment, the second is just so bad that it is funny (Neo 2012)
I rate it 4/10
Director Wilson Chin is the next Wong Jing and that is nothing to be proud of. If Wong Jing's recent output is to go by, "Lan Kwai Fong 2″ is precisely what you call cheap, sexy and lowbrow. If the first film is somewhat empty, but mindless fun filled with sexy performances from Dada Chen, Jeana Ho and Shiga Lin (who is the only of the trio to returns for the sequel) and fun performances from Chen Zi-Ming, Jason Chan and Sin Lap-Man. The sequel lacks all the vital ingredients that made the first film a fun and enjoyable ride into the world of Hong Kong's iconic party scene. In fact, the film is so bad that it is funny. Some of the script writing and acting is so terrible that the film becomes filled with unintentional humour and the audience laughing at the cheap production values. When the best things coming out of the film are the cameos performances, in particular Alex Fong is a real scene stealer in an ultra-hilarious performance that singlehandedly remains the funniest and more memorable moments in the film.
Director Wilson Chin needs a seriously look in the mirror as this is by far the worst film in his short career. However, like Wong Jing's worst films, "Lan Kwai Fong 2″ will sell tickets, but if he keeps making films like these, his hands will be forever tie to cheap productions rather than the promised land of bigger budget productions. In fact, the film is filled with bad editing, poor writing, poor lighting inconsistent acting, cliché storyline and uninteresting characters compared to the original.
Shiga Lin ("Lan Kwai Fong") is far from ready to lead a film, her inexperience to handle crucial moments did not help the film. Likewise, Lin and Kevin Kwan do not have enough chemistry to justify the amount of screen time. Mia Chan is the case of the unfortunate, having to expose more than required including many unnecessary crude shots of her under garments. Perhaps Mia is following Dada Chan's ("Vulgaria") footstep, but when the focus becomes your other assets rather than actual acting, Mia is more like the victim of its circumstances. In the scene after Mia bedded Avis, her quick and unusual turn of emotions filled the audience with unintentional laughter. With Mia at the screening, one can only imagine how embarrassing it would have been. Make no mistake, Avis is one terrible actor and apart from his association with Chrissie Chau, one must wonder why someone of his acting calibre can even get a film gag. While newcomer Dominic Ho adds nothing to the preceding other than looking cool and smirking a smile, not unlike the infamous Edison Chen.
"Lan Kwai Fong 2″ contains all the hallmarks of bad filmmaking and it does not help when everyone involved somewhat contributed to the downfall. Director Wilson Chin should get the burden of the blame and should promptly sack whoever the editor was involved. The cutting of scenes affected the film flow of events and by the final third of the film, it seemed so rushed that one can be forgiven to think that the film simply went out of budget. The numerous "close up" shots is more annoying and overused and just about anything that was good in the original, director Chin somehow managed to exclude it. However, the well made finale involving the entire LKF going backward is unbelievable yet sweet, but after going through everything before, the scene is definitely out of place and undeserving of such an ending. One wonders, if the entire production budget and thoughts went into filming the final sequence, the director forgotten that he is not shooting a music video, but rather an entire movie.
With the Hong Kong film industry making lesser local productions, "Lan Kwai Fong 2″ by being sexy and riding on the fame of the first film, may yet sell a few tickets, but with its questionable and cheap quality, it certainly does not help the future of local productions. Still, there is still some fun within this film, but mostly it relates to unintentional humour and to a large degree on the laughable script writing and the bad acting involved. If the first film is mindless entertainment, the second is just so bad that it is funny (Neo 2012)
I rate it 4/10
- thehkneo.com/blog
- webmaster-3017
- Aug 26, 2012
- Permalink
Yes, 1 out of 10.
I totally agree with so far the only review for this...piece. They rated this 4/10. Far too kind.
First of all, the first seconds of the film introduces one of the girls and she's bored buying an expensive condo, and shuts out her squealing impressed friends with headphones blaring music, and sunglasses. Behind her sunglasses, life turns into a nightclub, although this is her imagination, but it's used as the opening credits, and in such a tacky way over a background of badly dancing women to horrible amateur club music, and I'm already rolling my eyes and gagging.
I told myself, "I will know this film is bad if they don't connect this to the opening scene by having her snap back to reality, removing her headphones and sunglasses." They did not, and that's when I realized (two minutes into the film) what this film was: a cheap, empty excuse for female eye candy and male posers, who all confused flamboyance and "pick-up artistry" on gold-digging drunken women for being cool and sexy, which is a risky aim because it won't work if you the viewer don't find the people attractive nor charismatic, since that's what this film poorly decided to center itself around. But if you have an Asian fetish and don't care at ALL about a good script, an interesting plot, or talent, then this film is for you.
Also, about 10 minutes in I see the scene where a party girl is with her friend outside a club and the police intervene. I was already in the process of finding the words to criticize this film when I see all I needed to see: one of the girls was wearing weave, and this is expected among people who live to party and get by on their looks. The problem is, I SAW her weave! Her hair extension lining!! It was an entire row of stitched in blonde hair and I saw it! Cheap lighting and bad angling and terrible film crew and bad casting! And why didn't they step in to fix it?! Because there was 0 standard to this film! It's an excuse for cheap quick cash for everyone involved! I've seen porn produced, performed, and directed better than this LOL!
This film sucks, simple as that. If you want to see a film about hot young party people and their bouts with love, and in big shiny Asian cities, watch Vortex of Love 2013! It's from Tokyo, Japan. It's way better! The people are actually good looking and stylish! The relationships are actually interesting! The script is actually funny and engaging! The plot actually flows and connects! And it never once glamourised clubbing, materialistic, shallow, promiscuous, obsessively westernized POSERS like THIS film did! It actually focused and commentated on their personalities, "bro code (when males help each other deceive women before and after sleeping with them)," and their love lives behind their extravagant personas, behind their closed doors, where it all matters. SO much so that it admittedly was a bit claustrophobic because it filmed the entire movie in their apartments, never showing their appalling antics on the outside street and passing it off as interesting and romantic, like this film did.
This film was like a really bad soap opera mixed into a really bad and long pop ballad music video. This film looked like everyone met at a low budget photo shoot and said, "hey, let's make a film!" lol. It wasn't sexy, or funny, but it was insultingly bad and evermore boring as it went along. I mean I've never seen a film be so cliché yet still unrealistic, and people be so sexual, risqué and dolled-up yet still unattractive, at the same time.
I totally agree with so far the only review for this...piece. They rated this 4/10. Far too kind.
First of all, the first seconds of the film introduces one of the girls and she's bored buying an expensive condo, and shuts out her squealing impressed friends with headphones blaring music, and sunglasses. Behind her sunglasses, life turns into a nightclub, although this is her imagination, but it's used as the opening credits, and in such a tacky way over a background of badly dancing women to horrible amateur club music, and I'm already rolling my eyes and gagging.
I told myself, "I will know this film is bad if they don't connect this to the opening scene by having her snap back to reality, removing her headphones and sunglasses." They did not, and that's when I realized (two minutes into the film) what this film was: a cheap, empty excuse for female eye candy and male posers, who all confused flamboyance and "pick-up artistry" on gold-digging drunken women for being cool and sexy, which is a risky aim because it won't work if you the viewer don't find the people attractive nor charismatic, since that's what this film poorly decided to center itself around. But if you have an Asian fetish and don't care at ALL about a good script, an interesting plot, or talent, then this film is for you.
Also, about 10 minutes in I see the scene where a party girl is with her friend outside a club and the police intervene. I was already in the process of finding the words to criticize this film when I see all I needed to see: one of the girls was wearing weave, and this is expected among people who live to party and get by on their looks. The problem is, I SAW her weave! Her hair extension lining!! It was an entire row of stitched in blonde hair and I saw it! Cheap lighting and bad angling and terrible film crew and bad casting! And why didn't they step in to fix it?! Because there was 0 standard to this film! It's an excuse for cheap quick cash for everyone involved! I've seen porn produced, performed, and directed better than this LOL!
This film sucks, simple as that. If you want to see a film about hot young party people and their bouts with love, and in big shiny Asian cities, watch Vortex of Love 2013! It's from Tokyo, Japan. It's way better! The people are actually good looking and stylish! The relationships are actually interesting! The script is actually funny and engaging! The plot actually flows and connects! And it never once glamourised clubbing, materialistic, shallow, promiscuous, obsessively westernized POSERS like THIS film did! It actually focused and commentated on their personalities, "bro code (when males help each other deceive women before and after sleeping with them)," and their love lives behind their extravagant personas, behind their closed doors, where it all matters. SO much so that it admittedly was a bit claustrophobic because it filmed the entire movie in their apartments, never showing their appalling antics on the outside street and passing it off as interesting and romantic, like this film did.
This film was like a really bad soap opera mixed into a really bad and long pop ballad music video. This film looked like everyone met at a low budget photo shoot and said, "hey, let's make a film!" lol. It wasn't sexy, or funny, but it was insultingly bad and evermore boring as it went along. I mean I've never seen a film be so cliché yet still unrealistic, and people be so sexual, risqué and dolled-up yet still unattractive, at the same time.