As much as I enjoy Hong Kong cinema and as much as I enjoy movies that Francis Ng are in, then "Laughing Gor" (aka "Turning Point 2") was somewhat of a disappointing experience. The movie simply tried to bite off too big a piece and failed miserably.
Director Herman Yau tries to take a handful of different aspects of story lines and put it together into a single story, but the end result is confusing and, well bluntly put, terrible. There is no red thread throughout the movie, it is all just mostly bits and pieces of various story lines and information, that really doesn't add up to a whole greater wholesome image.
There were too many characters to keep track of, and most of them were superficial characters that really didn't have much time on the screen, but still played a rather important part of this confusing storyline.
The story is about an undercover police officer whose identity gets erased when the only police officer familiar with his undercover identity in the prison dies. But it is also the story of a psychologist who tries to mobilize a revolution against the legal system. And the story of a wronged bride-to-be who seeks only to be with her deceased husband, and projects his image onto her doctor.
But the storyline mix up doesn't end there, as there are far many other aspects to the story, that just takes the mold of the storyline and mashes it up until it has become incomprehensible soup.
One of the better things to this movie, is that there is a fair amount of popular Hong Kong stars in the movie. So that should count for something at least.
"Laughing Gor" was a rather disappointing addition to the Hong Kong cinema, and only Francis Ng's performance made it possible to sit through the entire movie.
Director Herman Yau tries to take a handful of different aspects of story lines and put it together into a single story, but the end result is confusing and, well bluntly put, terrible. There is no red thread throughout the movie, it is all just mostly bits and pieces of various story lines and information, that really doesn't add up to a whole greater wholesome image.
There were too many characters to keep track of, and most of them were superficial characters that really didn't have much time on the screen, but still played a rather important part of this confusing storyline.
The story is about an undercover police officer whose identity gets erased when the only police officer familiar with his undercover identity in the prison dies. But it is also the story of a psychologist who tries to mobilize a revolution against the legal system. And the story of a wronged bride-to-be who seeks only to be with her deceased husband, and projects his image onto her doctor.
But the storyline mix up doesn't end there, as there are far many other aspects to the story, that just takes the mold of the storyline and mashes it up until it has become incomprehensible soup.
One of the better things to this movie, is that there is a fair amount of popular Hong Kong stars in the movie. So that should count for something at least.
"Laughing Gor" was a rather disappointing addition to the Hong Kong cinema, and only Francis Ng's performance made it possible to sit through the entire movie.