Eva Cheng is the only reason to watch The Lion Men

And many reasons why even Jack Neo's loyal film supporters should not watch it.

Martino Tan| January 30, 07:11 AM

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"But his awful melange of genres (comedy, drama, romance, action) and his inept handling of lion dance action sequences do the traditional maritial-art dance an injustice that is more egregious than if he had left it alone" - The Straits Times (1.5 / 5 stars)

"Unfortunately, what really killed it for me was the lack of subtleness when it came to the movie’s product placement... It distracted from the plot." - TODAY  (2.5 / 5 stars)

"The film was excessive, full of elements that ended up drowning out one another instead of complementing each other." - Yahoo News

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There is one thing that director Jack Neo did right.

With The Lion Men, he brought the neglected art of lion dancing into pop culture consciousness.

In Singapore, only the director of the second most-watched film in Singapore last year (Ah Boys To Men Part 2) has the clout and resources to do that.

Neo is no ordinary Singaporean director. He won the Public Service Medal at the Singapore National Day Awards 2004, for his achievements in filmmaking. He is our 2005 Cultural Medallion winner.

Which is the reason why many felt that he can do better with this movie.

I am not a film director nor a movie critic.  And I enjoy Jack's films for his humour.

 

But here are a few suggestions how Jack Neo can please his loyal movie fans (like me) without causing him too much financial distress.

 

1. Showcase 18-year old China actress Eva Cheng and a prominent local female lead.

For the male viewers, leading lady Eva Cheng is probably the only reason why they would watch The Lion Men.

lion-men-girl-04

lion-men-girl-01

lion-men-girl-03

lion-men-girl-02

Source: YouTube

We understand from The Straits Times that if Jack has "a Chinese actress, the movie has a better shot at making it in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong".

But he raised our expectations when he held The Lion Men auditions last year, with 815 women trying their luck.

The movie has two male leads Tosh Zhang and Wang Weiliang. Surely, we can have two female leads too (Eva Cheng and a local female actress).

 

2. Cut down on product placements and promote up-and-coming local brands.

We have actor Chen Tianwen giving ang baos in the form of NETS Cashcards. We have the Lion dance troupes performing in front of BreadTalk.

Sponsors

Some of these product placements distracted the viewers from the plot.

Maybe Jack is promoting local brands with his product placements.

But if Jack really wants to help Singaporean brands, he can give promising local brands (Books Actually and Real Food for example), a leg-up by featuring them instead.

 

3. Tosh Zhang vs Wang Weiliang

Tosh Zhang is easily most popular and charismatic young actor among the Ah Boys stars.

But this is a Chinese film and the eloquent YouTube star, fluent in English, struggled at times with his delivery of Mandarin lines.

Tosh_Rock_and_Wang_Weiliang

Source: J Team Productions 

As veteran actor Chen Tianwen observed, "Weiliang is the most outstanding of the lot. He has a quick mind and responds fast when acting".

Were commercial considerations at play when the film prefer to highlight Tosh instead of Weiliang?

Because we know that Tosh has more Facebook fans and Twitter followers than Weiliang online.

 

4. Part 1 + Part 2 movie

Ah Boys to Men

 Source: Ah Boys to Men Facebook

We can understand why Ah Boys to Men is a two-parter. National Service is a 46-year-old institution that resonates with many Singaporean males so there's a lot of material there.

But The Lion Men is not a discourse of the historic traditions of the lion dance. Surely 130 minutes is sufficient to tell a coming-of-age story with the folk art as the backdrop.

Again, we wonder if the box-office takings of Ah Boys to Men ($6.23 million for Part 1 and $7.73 million for Part 2) played a part in making this movie a two-parter.

 

Finally...

Let me quote PM Lee's National Day Rally last year:

"[I]f you succeed under our system, then you must feel the duty to contribute back because you did not do it alone. Therefore, if that works, we invest in you, you give back, then everyone will benefit from the system and will see it as fair and good."

 

As the elder statesman of the local film industry, Jack has a duty to contribute back to the film industry. He can do so by promoting more local talents and local brands, as well as pushing the boundaries of local film-making.

I am sure he can make his films commercial and critical successes without resorting to the sales tricks of infomericials.

 

Top photo from here.

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