I became a fan of Peter Chan because of his masterpiece "Perhaps Love." However, I expected a lot more than what this movie is offering. In my opinion, a good movie must have three components: (1) It tells a complete story revealing the subtlety and intricacy of love. A little suspense can help, but too many subplots only distract audiences from the main message, which, unfortunately, is the case in this movie. (2) Beautiful scripts that this movie lacks. I am a fan of ancient Chinese literature, and therefore I can appreciate how beautiful the Chinese language is. The speech at the end of the movie was a bit redundant - the message has already been embedded in the movie, and was hollow - it does not make people contemplate bigger questions about life, love, etc. either. (3) A good laugh - this is essential. Life is not easy - at least for most people who were born without privilege, and everyone needs a good laugh. The second part of this movie was depressing, and it is cruel to let teenagers figure out how hard life can be. It appears to me that the directors are trying to find a balance between mass popularity and artistic touch, the latter might be deemed cheesy - but this is actually what the current Chinese culture needs - a sense of higher needs, including art, beauty and love in all forms, than materialistic pursuits. In search for mass popularity, the directors lost their artistic touch, and I was disappointed.
