 | Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight or Gam man da song si is hitting VOD on February 23rd, 2018. |
Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight or Gam man da song si is hitting VOD on February 23rd, 2018. This is the first feature film for director Alan Lo. He has made shorts Zombie Guillotines and After Lasik. This new zombie film is a co-production from Hong Kong and China which stars Kai-Chung, Alex Man and Carrie Ng. The synopsis is:
Lung and Chi-Yeung are two eccentric hot-blooded young men. They deem themselves heroes that can save the Earth. They will need to do just that when Lung’s favorite animation appears in the city with no reason. It starts to turn the people into zombies. The outbreak creates widespread chaos all round.
This film is quite interesting. It parallels an anime that is the opening credits. In the animation there are two warriors who are known as the ‘double dragons’ and the warriors of ‘heaven and earth’. They are invincible once they change. Michael Ning is Lung and his character in the animation is unable to transform. They need to be without fear and him not being able to become the superhero is a foreshadow.
Lung is the lead and has a lot going on. His father (Alex Man) has been in prison for most of his life. He is released and out to make amends. Lung grew up with Shan (Carrie Ng) who has dealt with chronic depression after the death of her brother. Man had a part in his death and he's seeking her out. Lung is single and has a crush on a famous martial artist who is getting married, Yee-Sue (Venus Wong). He does have a job and is moving out of the house he grew up in. This is mostly what the film is focusing on. There is a lot going on in Lung’s life and the chaos of this outbreak forces him to deal with it.
Not to be completely overshadowed is his friend Chi-Yeung. He is not lacking in confidence and has a crush on Chan-Yat (Cherry Ngan). She shows some interest, but he comes off as slightly arrogant. Chan-Yat is interviewing the two friends. She is also working with a group that investigates paranormal issues.
Much like the anime, these two need to save those around them. This is where the film goes a little off the rails. The main villain for this film is a suit that you might see someone wearing as a mascot. To make it even odder is that it can shoot energy. This is coupled with some bad CGI that makes it look like skull and whoever it hits turns into a zombie. The chicken can also shoot exploding eggs that always seem to be a headshot and turns it to a skull. The graphics here aren’t the greatest either. The zombies looked really good though. They are more of a Dawn of the Dead remake in that they can run.
The zombies are an issue with the film as there wasn’t enough interaction between the people and them. The film goes more about the relationship between the characters. The issue there though is that not all of the characters are fully fleshed out. Lung definitely does as the hero. Chi-Yeung does as well. Everyone else that is there seems to be to drive these two characters to come to terms with a different issue in their lives. For zombie films to really be good, this is a good concept. This film fails though in that of the 105 minute run-time, interaction with the zombies and chicken monster are only about 15 minutes of that or so. Interactions with the villains can help to build the tension and making the issues in the relationship that much more important as it builds urgency.
With that, a coherent story is something that I look for. This film only has that with believable relationships between the characters. There is no explanation of how the chicken monster appeared. The reveal at the end is confusing as well. It won't be spoiled, but just know it didn’t make a lot of sense. The humor in the film is more for a youthful audience. It did make me chuckle though, which I will give it credit for.
Overall this film does well at establishing the two heroes and what they have to overcome in order to face down the chaos around them. The character and their interactions are really the bright spot of the film along with how the zombies looked. There isn’t a lot in the way of blood and gore. The story is lacking some elements and that mad it confusing. More tension would help to make the stakes higher. This is director Lo’s first feature film. I am curious to see his next project as there were some good aspects in this film. Hopefully the experience of this will help going forward.
5.5/10
Lung and Chi-Yeung are two eccentric hot-blooded young men. They deem themselves heroes that can save the Earth. They will need to do just that when Lung’s favorite animation appears in the city with no reason. It starts to turn the people into zombies. The outbreak creates widespread chaos all round.
This film is quite interesting. It parallels an anime that is the opening credits. In the animation there are two warriors who are known as the ‘double dragons’ and the warriors of ‘heaven and earth’. They are invincible once they change. Michael Ning is Lung and his character in the animation is unable to transform. They need to be without fear and him not being able to become the superhero is a foreshadow.
Lung is the lead and has a lot going on. His father (Alex Man) has been in prison for most of his life. He is released and out to make amends. Lung grew up with Shan (Carrie Ng) who has dealt with chronic depression after the death of her brother. Man had a part in his death and he's seeking her out. Lung is single and has a crush on a famous martial artist who is getting married, Yee-Sue (Venus Wong). He does have a job and is moving out of the house he grew up in. This is mostly what the film is focusing on. There is a lot going on in Lung’s life and the chaos of this outbreak forces him to deal with it.
Not to be completely overshadowed is his friend Chi-Yeung. He is not lacking in confidence and has a crush on Chan-Yat (Cherry Ngan). She shows some interest, but he comes off as slightly arrogant. Chan-Yat is interviewing the two friends. She is also working with a group that investigates paranormal issues.
Much like the anime, these two need to save those around them. This is where the film goes a little off the rails. The main villain for this film is a suit that you might see someone wearing as a mascot. To make it even odder is that it can shoot energy. This is coupled with some bad CGI that makes it look like skull and whoever it hits turns into a zombie. The chicken can also shoot exploding eggs that always seem to be a headshot and turns it to a skull. The graphics here aren’t the greatest either. The zombies looked really good though. They are more of a Dawn of the Dead remake in that they can run.
The zombies are an issue with the film as there wasn’t enough interaction between the people and them. The film goes more about the relationship between the characters. The issue there though is that not all of the characters are fully fleshed out. Lung definitely does as the hero. Chi-Yeung does as well. Everyone else that is there seems to be to drive these two characters to come to terms with a different issue in their lives. For zombie films to really be good, this is a good concept. This film fails though in that of the 105 minute run-time, interaction with the zombies and chicken monster are only about 15 minutes of that or so. Interactions with the villains can help to build the tension and making the issues in the relationship that much more important as it builds urgency.
With that, a coherent story is something that I look for. This film only has that with believable relationships between the characters. There is no explanation of how the chicken monster appeared. The reveal at the end is confusing as well. It won't be spoiled, but just know it didn’t make a lot of sense. The humor in the film is more for a youthful audience. It did make me chuckle though, which I will give it credit for.
Overall this film does well at establishing the two heroes and what they have to overcome in order to face down the chaos around them. The character and their interactions are really the bright spot of the film along with how the zombies looked. There isn’t a lot in the way of blood and gore. The story is lacking some elements and that mad it confusing. More tension would help to make the stakes higher. This is director Lo’s first feature film. I am curious to see his next project as there were some good aspects in this film. Hopefully the experience of this will help going forward.
5.5/10
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