9/21/2023 0 Comments Two thumbs up![]() Together they plan a raid: they’ll disguise a mini-bus as a police Emergency Vehicle (or EV, the film’s Chinese title) by layering over parts stolen from police car junkyards. But ultimately they can’t resist Big F’s plan: he’s heard that triads are smuggling cash over the border from China in hearses - and it’s stashed inside the corpses. Initially, they’re not at all keen to return to their criminal ways. The film revolves around Big F (Ng), newly released from a 16-year stint behind bars in Malaysia, who returns to Hong Kong to hook up with his old partners-in-crime – bowling alley attendant Crazy B (Simon Yam), hair stylist Johnnie T (Patrick Tam) and shortsighted East L (Mark Cheng). There’s no particular reason why it should work, and, indeed, it can seem a little odd initially, but this postmodern weirdness gives Two Thumbs Up a heightened impact. The director has decked his principal actors out in primary colours (vivid oranges and purples) and over-the-top hairdos against a glowing nocturnal background and tricked it all up with overlaid, animated schematics. It’s also very funny.Įxperienced writer Lau Ho-leung ( Painted Skin and Kung Fu Jungle), has concocted a story of four low-rent former cons who reunite in a bowling alley to reluctantly carry out one more scam. Sold by Emperor, Two Thumbs Up reinforces Hong Kong’s age-old reputation for innovation and resourcefulness with limited budgets. There’s a place for this entertaining film internationally as well, its offbeat air giving it a cultish, goofy feel. Starring the much-loved Francis Ng (Ng Chun-yu) and Simon Yam (Yam Tat-wah), who appeared together in the blockbuster Young And Dangerous twenty years ago, Two Thumbs Up premiered at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, and it will be a cops and robbers curio in the local marketplace when it opens on April 2 with its dry, low-key approach to the heist genre and a casting selection akin to the British TV hit Old Tricks. Two Thumbs Up reinforces Hong Kong’s age-old reputation for innovation and resourcefulness. ![]() Lo Ho-leung’s directorial debut Two Thumbs Up is an endearingly retro romp through Hong Kong’s New Territories in the company of four ageing ex-cons with the most elaborate mullets seen onscreen since Al Pacino played Phil Spector. ![]()
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