39. Everything Under Control (Ciu sanging haaigip'on); movie review

 

EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL (CIU SANGING HAAIGIP'ON)

Cert 15

109 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong violence

The audience around me in Birmingham's New Street Odeon were chortling away but I sat stony-faced.

Unfortunately, many of the gags in Everything Under Control went over my head because they didn't translate very well from Cantonese.

This is one of the most successful lunar new year releases and certainly has plenty going on.

It stars well-known singer Hins Cheung as the lead officer of a security firm detail tasked with escorting a consignment of diamonds across Hong Kong.

His character doesn't take the job seriously, having never encountered any potential robbers and believing that the city-state wouldn't have any.

Inevitably, he is proven wrong and he and his driver (Kaho Hung) and new recruit (Jeffrey Ngai Tsun Sang) are ambushed.

During the heist, one of his colleagues secretly nips off with the jewels and so the angry gang boss orders his lieutenant (Michael Ning) to go off with the remaining security guards to hunt him down.

The chase ends up in a village where an offbeat bunch have set up a commune.

The confrontation between the unwanted interlopers and these rather strange folk provides much of the film's fun.

I suspect many of the jokes must have been language-based because the native speakers in the audience were lapping up gags which went over my head.

And there was plenty of slapstick for them to enjoy. 

It was all a bit puerile but clearly, Ying Chi-Wen's movie tickled some funny bones.

Reasons to watch: If you are into slapstick humour

Reasons to avoid: Jokes are a bit puerile

Laughs: One for me but plenty for others in the audience

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 5/10

Did you know? There were 56 robberies in Hong Kong between January and September 2022 - a drop of 43 per cent compared with the same nine-month period in 2021.

The final word. Trinity CineAsia statement: "Everything Under Control’ [is] a film bound to bring the festive spirit back to Chinese New Year again and lift everyone’s mood [for] audiences, in both the United Kingdom and North America, marking our third foray there since 2022.” 

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