MARCH 24 — It’s been a while since I last wrote about Malaysian films here, such is the dearth of excitement in the local film scene in the past few months. Abang Long Fadil 2 became the all-time Malaysian box-office champ by collecting RM18.1 million during the third and fourth quarter of 2017, but quality-wise I think it still didn’t manage to top the loony heights of the first film.
Box-office receipts in 2018 have continued the downward spiral of the last few years where most films would be lucky even to bag RM150,000, and quality-wise the last time my pulse was really raised was when Mrs K and Shuttle Life opened in Malaysian cinemas in 2017.
But finally we might be getting some good news now as two big Malaysian films opened just a week apart from each other, with both films seriously threatening to score big bucks at the local box-office.
One is helmed by the impossibly young, prolific and increasingly impressive Syafiq Yusof (who is the current local box-office king by virtue of directing Abang Long Fadil 2) while the other possesses the irresistible hook of telling the autobiographical story of a living Malaysian sporting legend.
More interestingly, both films have Rosyam Nor in important roles, which serves to reinforce the continuing pulling power of the respected actor, despite being in the industry since the 1980s. Let’s see how they fare, shall we?
KL Special Force
This whole “let’s put KL in our film title” thing has been cringe-worthy at best and grating at worst. From KL Menjerit to Evolusi KL Drift to KL Gangster to probably quite a few more that I never want to remember in between, I almost didn’t want to watch KL Special Force just because of the fact that it’s another Malaysian film with the word KL in its title.
Luckily the whole buzz created by its box-office performance (and of course the fact that Syafiq directed it) was enough to tempt me into the cinema to catch it, and you know what, it’s always nice to be pleasantly surprised by a local film.
Telling the story of a police officer (Rosyam Nor) trying to stop a gang of bank robbers calling themselves Gang Anarkis, led by Asyraff (Syamsul Yusof), KL Special Force plays like a love letter to Hong Kong cops and robbers movies, with all the explosions, double crosses, undercover cops and robbers and illogical gunfights that are the hallmarks of the genre.
It’s already good enough if Syafiq manages to stage all the action and explosions convincingly (which he did well enough, but of course not quite to the high standards of HK geniuses like Johnnie To or even younger tyros like Soi Cheang), but what’s most admirable about the film for me is the amount of effort that was taken to make sure that the script is as airtight as possible, especially when it involves the kind of twists and reveals here.
It may sound like the most obvious of things, but mainstream Malaysian films are not especially known for having airtight scripts, so to be able to see something like this really does feel like a breath of fresh air.
With news that the film has already made RM5.5 million in its first seven days, let’s hope that this will inspire other mainstream producers to up their script game as well, which will hopefully lead to better mainstream films being made, and the audience not wanting to tear their hair out whenever they’re out on a movie night watching mainstream Malaysian films.
Lee Chong Wei: Rise Of The Legend
Of the two films, I feel this one has the better chance to become the new Malaysian box-office king, courtesy of the fact that every single Malaysian will know and admire Lee Chong Wei, regardless of race and speaking language, and it is not every day that we get to see a film made about someone who’s still alive and kicking, and who is more or less a national hero.
That nationalistic pride should be enough to power this movie to potentially huge box-office success beyond its reported RM7 million budget. With a premiere that was attended by 20,000 people (I wonder how much the collection for that alone is) and cinema collection that has hit around RM2.1 million in just four days, this really could be another Ola Bola or The Journey.
As for the film itself, director Teng Bee (of Kepong Gangster fame) has crafted a thoroughly engaging, if sometimes overtly manipulative, sports movie that may be full of cliches (just check out the inevitable rain whenever something sad is about to happen!), but is still irresistible thanks to the earnest performances and the likability of the actors.
Little Chong Wei (played by newcomer Jake Eng) especially is absolutely adorable and sells every single scene he’s in with effortless conviction. In fact, I think the childhood part of the movie might just be everyone’s favourite.
Tosh Chan as the teenage and adult Chong Wei is a bit less successful than Jake Eng, but that might also be because the script flirts with some pretty awkward high school movie cliches before settling again into underdog sports movie mode, but as a whole, Lee Chong Wei: Rise Of The Legend is a perfectly acceptable nationalistic sports picture, able to be enjoyed by the whole family and bound to make your heart swell with national pride.
*This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
