Two Thumbs Up

This film about a single robbery is sometimes so crazy that I had to laugh. And I enjoyed it. The finale with the bowling balls is seriously crazy. There are moments here that are unnecessarily exaggerated, but overall, the film mostly works on the comedic side. Hong Kong cinema still has a lot to offer, even without big-name stars. (2015-07-24)

The praiseworthy screenwriter Lau Ho-Leung could have easily made his directorial debut as a sophisticated indie film in the style of Johnnie To’s works aimed at international festivals. Instead, however, he created a hyperactive, overwrought folk tale for the local audience. From the perspective of foreign viewers, the formal style, which picks up the threads of domestic comic books and nonsense comedies, may come across as excessive, thus interfering with their immersion in the narrative. But that’s not Lau’s thing at all. On the contrary, his goal is to hold viewers outside of the film so that they can be that much more entertained by its absurd twists and not have to deal with any spatial and logical inconsistencies that would otherwise be exceedingly obvious. Indeed, Two Thumbs Up doesn't want to deal with plausibility, but instead carries its heart on its sleeve and, in a folksy and enchanting way, pays tribute to typically local heroes who, while not wearing their briefs on the outside of their pants, are actually superheroes. (2021-08-15)