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Review
by Kozo: |
Women
get equal time in Men Suddenly in Black 2,
a follow-up to the surprise 2003 hit titled, duh,
Men Suddenly in Black. This time around, the
women are seeking revenge against their still-philandering
husbands, whose schemes to obtain booty have not been
quelled by their failed attempts in the previous film.
That film was directed by Edmond Pang Ho-Cheung, whose
razor-sharp, though sometimes self-satisfied wit make
him a potential Hong Kong Cinema savior. Sadly, it's
not Pang at the helm of this film. Men Suddenly
in Black 2 was directed by epic filmmaker Zhong
Qing, who is a complete unknown with zero other film
credits to his name. Zhong Qing may not even be a
"he", as press coverage prior to the film's
release touted Aubrey Lam (Twelve Nights) as
the film's director. Lam still has writer credit,
but if the final credits are correct, it wasn't her
in the director's chair.
What gives here? No
one here really knows, but it's possible that the
name switch occurred due to the
true director's objections over *gasp* cinema quality.
Men Suddenly in Black has yet to achieve classic
status, but it was a smart black comedy and a tough
act to follow. In its own way, Men Suddenly in
Black refused to pull punches, and delivered a
witty, sometimes surprising commentary on the unspoken
game of marital infidelity. Men Suddenly in Black
2 expands upon that game, but it goes further
by attempting to deliver a hard, and conspicuously
female-centered lesson about why men and women really
cheat - or at least attempt to. The lessons learned
are common and even felt, but they're presented in
a way that could make the audience cringe. If someone
really did have an issue with film's direction and
requested that their name be removed from the credits,
then their objection should be understood, and even
respected. To say it explicitly: Men Suddenly in
Black 2 may be amusing, but it can't compare to
Men Suddenly in Black 1.
Like the first film,
Men Suddenly in Black 2 presents four couples
whose minor bickering has escalated into threatened
non-marital sexual relations. Eric Tsang, Teresa Mo,
Jordan Chan, and Marsha Yuan return as two of the
warring couples, with Wong Yau-Nam, Gia Lin, Cheung
Tat-Ming, and Josie Ho replacing previous couples
Chapman To, Candy Lo, Spirit Blue, and Tiffany Lee.
Apparently, the men have not learned from their previous
exploits and are looking to officially carouse once
more, but the wives have their own plan to snack on
the side. However, the men catch on, abandon their
own plans, and proceed to follow their wives, leading
to more awkward and off-color situations than you
would probably ever want. Basically, the women jump
through various hoops to get back at their husbands
while the men follow, spy, and sometimes attempt to
intervene. The chase leads to Macau hotel, where the
various couples spar in funny, surprising, and sometimes
uncomfortable ways. What we ultimately get is an examination
of the pain and emotion suffered by women whose husbands
stray - or self-gratify - in order to satisfy their
sexual needs. Plus there are movie parodies, and plenty
of them.
Immediately, Men Suddenly
in Black 2 earns points for its copious Election and Election 2 parodies. Since the first MSIB likened the solidarity of male cheaters to triad brotherhood,
it's only natural that MSIB2 go the full distance
and actually make them a full-fledged triad, complete
with elections to nominate a "boss" - who's
actually just the guy who arranges the infidelity
outings. The women also get their own bosses, however.
Sandra Ng shows up as the wife of Ninth Uncle, the
martyred lothario played by Tony Leung Ka-Fai in the
original film. She arranges the girls' weekend out,
but she has a goal in empowering the females to cheat
on their spouses. Basically, she instructs them that
men cheat for fun, but women cheat to keep the marriage
together. The idea is that trying to cheat on their
husbands will get the men to rethink their straying
ways, and value their suffering wives more - a concept
that actually makes sense if you think about it. Having
the women go to such lengths to hold their marriages
together proves to be amusing stuff, especially when
you throw in the abundance of off-color jokes which
tax the film's Category IIB rating. Many of the jokes
are specifically for local Hong Kong audiences, so
not everyone everywhere will get what the ha-has are
about. Still, enough jokes slip by to amuse.
Where the film falters
is in its ultimately straightforward aims. Unlike
the first film, which pushed its situations to a scathing,
and slyly inconclusive degree, Men Suddenly in
Black 2 shoves its themes down the audience's
throats full force. MSIB2 is billed as the
women's turn, and it certainly is. Little happens
in their initial forays into infidelity, save effective
situation comedy and some funny cameos from Carl Ng,
Jim Chim, and Alfred Cheung, among others. Still,
the point of their infidelity - that they're doing
it to save their marriages - is never far from the
surface, and when the film dumps its big moments on
us, the revelation is "Wow, men really do suck."
The guys get the guilt trips, along with a heavy dose
of desperate overacting, courtesy of exec-producer/co-screenwriter/star
Teresa Mo, who delivers a lengthy crying jag/monologue
that already seems earmarked for an awards show clip.
The point behind her overacting clinic is also a bit
labored, and could have been handled with more subtlety.
As the saying goes: less can be more. The film shifts
from comedy to drama almost instantly, and the sudden
change is like slamming your car into reverse while
turning hard right, engaging the handbrake, and reading
a newspaper at the same time. Basically, it gets ugly.
The comedy can get ugly,
too. Political correctness goes on vacation in Men
Suddenly in Black 2. Aside from the obvious pitfalls
of lampooning failing marriages, there's a tasteless
gag mixing Filipino domestic labor and the dog kennel
scene from Election 2. The film also references Election during its closing moments, where
the filmmakers manage to undo absolutely everything
they tried to accomplish in the preceding 100 minutes.
The thematic flip-flopping is frustrating enough to
an audience; if this is the reason why the director's
identity is a mystery then we wholeheartedly sympathize.
One hopes that filmmakers would try to do more than
just outdo Wong Jing, but Men Suddenly in Black
2 accomplishes only that.
The film's middling success
is a shame because the material is intelligent enough
to accomplish more, and the performances are largely
effective. Besides Teresa Mo, Marsha Yuan also gets
a revealing "big moment" that manages to
be affecting, and Jordan Chan, Eric Tsang, and Cheung
Tat-Ming walk the line between likable and loathsome
rather well. The numerous cameos are also fun, with
Jim Chim once again chewing scenery and stealing the
show. Men Suddenly in Black 2 definitely had
the tools to at least compare to its predecessor,
but the filmmakers couldn't pull it off. Still, what's
left is amusing enough for undemanding audiences,
and even the hard-to-please may find some measure
of fun. Just don't confuse this with an actual good
film. (Kozo 2006) |
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