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Review
by Kozo: |
Jingle Ma directs another sequel to one of his past successes, but it would be great if he hadn't written it too. Ma only directed the fluffy but fun Tokyo Raiders, but his co-written sequel Seoul Raiders was remarkably awful. Similarly, Ma’s Summer Holiday was a director-only job, while he’s listed on sequel Love You You as both director and co-writer. An even bigger problem: Love You You arrives eleven years after Summer Holiday and doesn’t even feature original stars Sammi Cheng and Richie Jen. One wonders why Ma didn't start fresh with a new concept, but he didn't so here we are with another Malaysia-set beach resort romance. Is the allure of an eleven year-old romantic comedy enough to get people to tune in for only tangentially-related seconds?
Well, they might if they care for either Eddie Peng or Angelababy. Two young stars with plenty of upside, Peng and Angelababy are in fine form, showing screen charisma that augurs well for any future star vehicles. Neither is exemplary and both occasionally overact, but each does small and expressive things with their roles that were probably not dictated by the script or the director. Both give their characters personality if not believable life, and that goes a long way towards making this super-commercial romantic comedy a tolerable experience. Unfortunately, besides the leads and the beautiful Malaysia location, everything else in Love You You is illogical, trite and, well, intolerable. Fans of the actors may be tickled by simply seeing them onscreen, but everyone else? Justified in their disinterest and/or rage.
Love You You tells the tale of Xiami (Angelababy), who as a child nearly drowned in Malaysia in a boat accident that took her parents' lives. As an adult, she returns to the scene of her childhood tragedy to fulfill a work assignment; she's investigating You Lele (Eddie Peng), the owner of beach resort Love You You. They meet semi-cute when she throws a shoe at him, and the antagonism only gets worse when she discovers that Lele uses her childhood tragedy as a local tourist tale – and that the tale portrays her as a fat person. This actually bothers her more than returning to the place where her parents died. In retaliation, Xiami assaults Lele before he suffocates her into unconsciousness. After she wakes up, Xiami pretends to lose her passport and offers to work for Lele for free, and he agrees even though she threw a shoe at him and tried to beat him up. Also, do remember that he suffocated her.
Soon, the two are inexplicably hanging out and attempting to repair the relationship of a wealthy couple (Zhu Yuchen and Zhou Yang), who intended to marry at Love You You but now are at each other's throats. This sequence consists of Xiami and Lele counseling the couple via cheap, overused relationship clichés, leading to a floating wedding ceremony for the couple and a burgeoning romance between Xiami and Lele. Then it's the melodrama phase as the two reveal their terribly clichéd backstories, followed by predictable personal catharsis and some plot twists that try to be unpredictable but aren't because they're awkwardly telegraphed. One gets the idea that Jingle Ma thinks his multiple flashback/voiceover storytelling technique is clever or touching, but sorry Jingle, it's not. Love You You is a poorly-made mess of rom-com cliches that needs a proper writer or director to get it to work. This film obviously had neither.
The plot twists do explain away some of the story's senselessness, but regardless Love You You is a chore to get through. Lame quirks and manufactured conveniences litter the script, replacing character development and common sense. Everything in this film could be solved if people used their brains or simply spoke to other people, but apparently none of the characters are that smart. Add to these idiotic characters the egregious product placement, bewildering emotions and arcane logic employed by the filmmakers and you pretty much know what you’re getting. Love You You is one terrible movie that’s only redeeming feature is a couple of beautiful stars - and because of that, there are people who are bound to enjoy it. Yep, Love You You will have its defenders, which could be the saddest thing to happen to Hong Kong Cinema all year. At least the beaches are pretty. Jingle Ma, if you must continue to direct, please hire real screenwriters. And please listen to them. (Kozo, 2011)
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