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This is a Singaporean movie made for Singaporeans, but which can mostly be enjoyed by all, although the entertainment value will not be as high as if you were a local.
As in the first movie the plot centres around the kids. But this time, the main topic is neglect. But it is not a purposeful neglect, but one borne out of an exaggerated generation gap, yet it is one understandable by most Singaporeans, or at least the ethnic Chinese Singaporeans.
The neglect in this movie is centred on communication, or the lack thereof. The lack of praise, the lack of encouragement, the neglect that comes from parents talking but not communicating, hearing but not listening, and the neglect that comes from not realising that people, especially kids, need more than simply material goods. One line uttered by one of the central characters later in the movie reinforces the notion of "a house is not a home".
The central characters all suffer from these forms of neglect in different ways. One resorts to stealing (for a purpose best left untold to preserve the movie's value for those who want to watch it). Two others, in a chiched scene, join a gang.
The demoralisation felt by those affected is palpable, and you empathise with and feel for the characters. The reunion scenes are expertly done to milk tears from even some of the guys in the audience. But amid the sadness is also the humour typical in Jack Neo's films. It is a credit to him that he can even inject humour into sombre events and "serious" scenes while not causing those scenes to be taken lightly, and still make us feel, nonetheless.
And since education is a pet topic of Jack's, he manages to weave in side plots dealing with Singapore's education system - the lack of age-appropriate sex education, the teaching methods used by some teachers, the use of corporal punishment (he draws inspiration from certain local incidents reported in the press), the inflexibility of some school officials when it comes to rules and regulations, the realisation that talents and success come in many forms, not just academic.
Because the apparent target audience are Singaporeans, the movie's characters use English (and Singlish of course), Chinese and Hokkien. Though subtitled, the entertainment value is reduced for those who cannot understand what's being spoken, because part of the humour and how one relates to the movie and its characters is in how it's spoken, not simply in what is spoken.
Generally expertly done so you hardly realise the movie's almost 2 hours long, though there are certain times when you realise the movie's gone on for longer than is usual for commercial films. I gave it a 9 instead of a 10, deducting 1 point for its clichéd scenes and a few times when the plot got a bit convoluted.
score 8/10
Mike-DD 26 January 2006
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1280199/ |
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27-2-2021 18:05:08