Media Review - Two Thumbs Up(衝鋒車)

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There are some films in years, which consists of weird storyline and low production budget, yet manages to find its way to become a cultish film. Two Thumbs Up is another example of this combination, yet provides a good look on how ‘Hong Kong-China co-production films’ should work. The Great Magician screenwriter Lau Ho-Leung directorial debut stars Simon Yam and Francis Ng, creating a goofy yet grounded story, that resonances the core elements from the golden era of Cantonese films.

The story begins from Malaysia to Hong Kong, when Lucifer(Francis Ng) get out from the jail, he immediately wants to achieve his big plan, so he assembles with his former crews: bowling alley technician Chow Tai-Po (Simon Yam), hair stylist Johnny To (Patrick Tam) and minibus drive Lam Tung (Mark Cheng). He revealed his plan is to modify a minibus to dress as police vehicle, and they are dressing as police for robbing a corpse car, which filled with laundered cash. An undercover-turned-police Tsui On-leung (Leo Ku) used his criminal instinct to investigate them in the meantime. When the gang tried to do a con within a con, the real gang showed up with real guns, and the things went south.

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Throughout the years, we have seen no shortage of Hong Kong crime action drama, yet in recent years, those crime films are more incorporated with modern and serious take, even takes in regional senses, cases like That Demon Within, Firestorm, Cold War, and more recently Helios. While many common elements in crime films like heists, undercover, or even the idea of Yi are being adopted Two Thumbs Up, the film distinct itself from channeling the local mood, which has bonded with the success of Cantonese films in 1980s and 90s. Genre definition are used to create expectations for the audiences, but Lau manages to make Two Thumbs Up not just a simple crime story, but also injecting elements like ‘cockroach invasion’ in the films, which to signify the reality of Hong Kong. Therefore, Two Thumbs Up is being presented as not just a crime action films, but also integrated with modernized local black humor style, which are less seen in Hong Kong cinema these days.

Besides the local mood, Two Thumbs Up also adopts some of intertextual elements, which the director has been inspired of. For example, one of the gangs Ar To (Johnny To), is the reference to Hong Kong auteur Johnny To, which is a tribute to his influence of local-styled crime films. Moreover, there are many footnotes like retro-style dressing of the gangs, some ‘silly yet cool’ dialogues and the idea of ‘gangs as hero’, are all paying homage to the former days’ Hong Kong films like Aces Go Places, Police Story and Days of Being Wild. Two Thumbs Days, as a result, are the combination of the 80,90s local crime films theme’, with a modern touch.

On the whole, Two Thumbs Up combines the classic genre elements in modern form, yet manages to incorporates with the sense of local mood found in early days in Hong Kong cinema, results in a breath of fresh air within the age of ‘co-production films’ era.

Offical Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8Bi8CHqnDs

Reference:

Chandler, D. (1997). Introduction to genre theory.

Storey, J. (2003). Film. In Cultural Studies and the Study of Popular Culture (2^nd ed.) (pp. 72-86). Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press.

Wai Hei (2015, August 4). Hoeng Gong Jan Dou Si Jing Hung – Ngo Hon “Cung Fung Ce”[Hong Kong people are heroes – My View on Two Thumbs Up] .Passion Times. 

Name: Soong Wan Sing, Winson

Student number: 10518421, 21620783

Word count: 527