We 12 movie review: Cantopop boy band Mirror make group debut in a heist comedy so awful, it’s a litmus test of fandom

by

1/5 stars

All 12 members of Hong Kong’s reigning Cantopop boy band Mirror star in a movie together for the very first time in We 12, an unabashedly hollow piece of fan service masquerading as a mainstream commercial feature made for general consumption.

In the past few years, the city’s faltering film business has occasionally been enlivened by the acting of several Mirror members, including Anson Lo Hon-ting (It Remains), Keung To (Mama’s Affair), Edan Lui Cheuk-on (Hong Kong Family), Anson Kong Ip-sang (Back Home) and Lokman Yeung (Mad Fate).

Sadly, their individual charisma is swept aside for this publicity exercise for the collective, which adopts an ill-advised, equal-opportunity approach to idol making: each member gets roughly the same screen time and all 12 of them enjoy top billing – their names are even listed in alphabetical order in the credits in case anyone’s feelings might be hurt.

But noble intentions do not a good movie make. Playing like a heist comedy dreamed up by a five-year-old kid, this witless, lifeless bore of a film is so amateurishly conceived (by director Berry Ho Kwok-man and screenwriter Cheung Lai-sze), it makes last month’s The Moon Thieves – also starring Lui, Lo and Keung – look like a classic of the genre.

Professional due diligence dictates that this writer must begin to provide a plot synopsis sooner rather than later but, readers, that is frankly beside the point here.

(From left) Frankie Chan, Jeremy Lee and Jer Lau in a still from We 12.

Suffice to say that this nonsensical story involves 12 master thieves – played by, and named after, the Mirror members – who are given a rare group mission: to steal a world-threatening mosquito zapper at a science award ceremony held in a Hong Kong hotel, which is guarded by the evil security manager Johnny (Yeung Wai-lun).

The group’s secretive boss begins by declaring that these young men are sorely lacking team spirit – a quip on Mirror’s real-life activities – and this statement immediately raises another question in the viewers’ minds: why should these 12 be anywhere near a world-saving mission in the first place?

As another illustration of the scattershot nature of this mess, every protagonist has been supplied with a special ability, like “lock-picking”, “lip-reading” or “hypnosis”, although quite a few read like unintended jokes: “agility” and “strategic planning” being two, while the guy with “sixth sense” is lauded for being lucky.

Anson Lo (left) and Lokman Yeung in a still from We 12.

Ironically, if not unexpectedly, the effortlessly eccentric Yeung Wai-lun proves the funniest presence in a production meant solely to capitalise on the boy band’s immense popularity. The sweet Malaysian actress Lin Min-chen and members of fellow pop group Error also have diverting cameos, although this is undoubtedly Mirror’s show.

Consider this a litmus test of fandom: We 12 is a must-see for followers of the group and a hard pass for anyone with good sense.

Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! Pioneer Newz is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.

Leave a Comment