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Goo waat zai: Gong woo sun dit jui (2013)
No they're not strippers!
Despite what you may think from the movie poster, this is not an Asian version of Magic Mike. Young and Dangerous Reloaded is a reboot of a popular Hong Kong movie about a group of close knit friends that are gangsters. The series including this latest movie numbers fifteen in total including spin offs and prequels originates from a Hong Kong comic book also known as manhua. Unlike in the US, the Young and Dangerous franchise helped to glamorize street gangs with their sense of loyalty, easy woman and easy money.
This latest edition by rookie Director Daniel Yee Heng Chan sadly is a pale copy to the original that came out in 1995. Instead of mixing it up and adding his own stamp to the classic characters, we see all the original players in the original series albeit played by different actors. In addition, the plots does not deviate as well from the stories that have already been told making for predictable scenes that will leave you reaching out for the original movies and popping them in.
The actors starring with the two key roles of Chung Him Law as Chan Ho Nam and Lit Wai Leung as Chicken does not have the screen presence of the original actors that played those roles in Ekin Cheng and Jordan Chan respectively. The two lone glimmers of light in this poor rehash is Goon Chung (Paul) Wong as Brother Bee and Sammy Sum as Ugly Kwan.
Overall, I would say shun this film even if you're a die-hard fan of the franchise. Going back to the above movie poster, it's quite a mockery of Young and Dangerous 2's movie poster where they all wore white as well. Albeit less stripper like. The movie is in Cantonese with English subtitles and can be found in DVD format in online shops like yesasia.com.
The Family (2013)
GeekwithMak.com Review: The Family
While The Family adds nothing new to its genre it's still a fun fest of predictable humor that makes it a good lazy Sunday watch. The Family is about a mob boss and his family in the witness protection program after he gave up his "other" family. Switching from place to place in different countries, their latest stop is Normandy, France.
The mob boss is Giovanni Manzoni played by Robert De Niro who's not a hunted man by the Mob that he betrayed. His handler is Tommy Lee Jones who plays brooding and old too well, such that his character can be quite forgettable. Giovanni and his family are fishes out of water in France but the kids played by Dianna Agron and John D'Leo adjusts more easily to school given their cunning manipulation of the circumstances given them. It is truly a dysfunctional family though with the mother played by Michelle Pfeiffer showing her ugly American side at the local supermarket when she is mocked in French. The daughter doesn't stray too far from the tree given her response to romantic advances from some local boys.
The most enjoyable moment for me besides the seemingly violent outburst by the ladies of the Manzoni family is the play on Robert De Niro. He leads the town to believe he is a screenplay writer and is asked to debate on a film which later turns out to be one in which De Niro starred in before in real life. Given the nature of The Family I would've suspected it would be The Godfather Part II, but is not.
Overall, I would still recommend the film as it is well acted even though predictable. The fight scene in the end is pretty entertaining between the two "families." Leading up to the battle though, I would've liked a different path for the daughter. It just seemed so contrary to her strong character throughout most of the film.