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Tagline: Anthony Wong and Francis Ng overshadow Laughing Gor… Review by Neo: Don't get me wrong, Laughing Gor is not a bad movie, but as a member of the viewing audience, I was left disappointed. This is in spite of some scene stealing display from the ever versatile Anthony Wong and Francis Ng. The real problem lies in Laughing Gor which quite frankly is Michael Tse himself. It goes without saying that Tse was wonderful In the TVB series EU, the show that reignited his much deflated career since the Young and Dangerous days. Tse was always stunning with his hideous laugh, sarcastic overtones yet an underlying humanness about him that won over the tiny territory audience on the small screen a little over half a year ago. Basically, he was likable, associable and lucky. However, despite the film using the Laughing Gor's character name, Tse rarely laughs and even rarer are his infamous sad jokes. Instead in the latest movie, Tse tries too hard to become Tony Leung Chiu Wai that ended up spoiling the movie and also in the process denying the audience a character that they have paid to see and hear. Now that's pure disappointment on my personal behalf.The movie goes like this: Laughing Gor goes undercover to infiltrate the triads; little do the cops know that Laughing is previously bounded to one of the triad leaders (played by Anthony Wong) who in turns allow Laughing to stay within two codes. To further complicate the matters, Laughing decides to go after Wong's bitter triad rival (played by Francis Ng) sister. Torn between internal and external conflicts, this is essentially a story of how Laughing Gor came to be, himself in the TVB series, EU.Directed by Herman Yau, the film is able to dislocate itself from its TVB style of film-making. With Yau at the helm, it is always safe to assume that the characters will take centre stage, as Yau is never a director that imposes too much indulgence onto oneself. The result is basically an effective triad drama that goes along the lines of a little film Yau made two years ago in the name of On the Edge.Moving on to the performances, Laughing Gor played by Michael Tse is essentially the drawing card of the box office success. Laughing is a internet sensation whose popularity resulted in numerous blog pages, as well as a Facebook page that have more people visiting it, then my website. Still, the Laughing Gor we have all grown to love and enjoy in the EU series seemed to be an entirely different character. Call me a realist or whatever, but I pay good money to watch Michael Tse play Laughing Gor the character, not Tse trying to be Tony Leung Chiu Wai. The fact is that Tse will and probably never reach the heights of Tony Leung, but why Tse did not play the character the same way that made him famous is really beyond my grasp of human baseness. Some may say that I am overlooking the fact that Tse can actually act, but in my personal opinion, Tse should have a distinctive style as he have done so well in the understating and constant subtle laughing in the TVB series. Tonight and for that very reason, I am disappointed.Another reason to add further disappointment to fans of Michael Tse, is that the likes of Anthony Wong and Francis Ng are able to create more, mention attention better and basically overshadowed anything Tse is trying to do and achieve. Wong and Ng are incredible and there is no question of doubt that both are at the very peak of their career. Wong is always a player who can act against type and the manner in which he cultivated his character is funny, playful and engaging to watch. Likewise, Ng is a brilliant character actor; few in his peers can overact and still manages to convince even the shrewdness of audiences. It is really no understatement that the film primarily works and maintains attention through the duo which in turns equates to both a pro and a con. Eric Tsang appears here and there in a cameo as a triad boss. TVB starlet and my personal muse, Fala Chen does well enough in her debut to justify another role. Her scene of anger in her brother (Francis Ng)'s house is both convincingly displayed and stoic enough to be believable.All in all, Laughing Gor is both an effective undercover movie and a failure in terms of promoting the lead actor in Michael Tse. Herman Yau does his best with the resources on his hands, but one would really expect the story to be overblown to more dramatic proportions. The audience rarely feels for any of the characters and the very fact that Laughing Gor seems more like Angry Gor, does not help the proceedings. Still, there is a lot to like about this flick, if only to witness the experienced duo in Wong and Ng battling it out in both words and actions and perhaps the final moments of the flick, when Laughing Gor finally plays the character we are all missing and wanting. At the end of the day, the product that is put in front of our eyes seem more like On the Edge 2 than a movie about Laughing … (Neo 2009) I rate it 6.25/10www.thehkneo.com

It's not everyday that a character in a television series got so well liked by the general public, that a movie gets created for that character in order to allow fans one last hurrah, and dwell a little bit more on the background of the character. In true Hong Kong crime thriller style, the character of actor Michael Tse's Laughing Gor (or literally translated as Brother Laughing, a queer name for a gangster really) gets backed by its TVB television studio and Shaw Bros, and the result is this unfortunate telemovie made for the big screen, directed by Herman Yau.The story here is nothing new, and the list of films to cite about undercover cops can go up to many miles long. Perhaps what this movie truly resembled in spirit would be Yau's own movie On The Edge starring Nick Cheung as an undercover who had completed his mission, and tries his best to assimilate his life back to normalcy, but facing challenging odds of discrimination. That film also starred Francis Ng and Anthony Wong, and deja-vu when watching this film is quite an understatement.Set in the earlier days of Laughing before the events of television series E.U., it chronicles the life of a convenience store cashier who gets adopted by Anthony Wong's No. 1, and given the fad of sending your own thugs into the police force, he does the same with Laughing. On the side of the Law, Yuen Biao (good to see him in a supporting role) stars as Superintendent Sin, who eyes this young lad and grooms him into becoming a mole for the police force. Hence Laughing's career as a double agent begins, straddling the thin line of doing good and bad, reporting one to the other side, and vice versa.What's interesting here is that the bad guys are fully aware of Laughing's status, and that No. 1 himself had been an ex-cop turned undercover, by the same superior. Hence he sees some similarities with Laughing, and tries his best to protect his man against that of his rival (Francis Ng), whose sister Karen (Fala Chen) Laughing falls for. The themes of trust, paranoia and betrayal go full steam ahead since nobody trusts anyone else, and even your most trusted man can betray you just to get ahead, or are listening to orders from the top (Eric Tsang, who was given a very un-Tsang like dubbed Mandarin voice).And this sense of distrust permeates throughout the film, until it got a tad ridiculous with moles planted on opposite sides of the law, and on the same side, and with undercover cops so easily revealing themselves to their own uniformed folks, it soon became a strange little comedy, where everyone could be working for someone else, capable of switching loyalties at a whim. What made it worse was the narrative trying its best to confuse rather than hold you in suspense, with flash forwards and flashbacks taking their toil.Somehow I felt that Herman Yau got to direct this with both hands shackled behind his back. Famed for his Cat III classics of violence and sex, there were glimpses of perhaps how far he could have gone should he not be tasked to ensure the appeal and accessibility for a wide spectrum of audience. There was the use of choppers, and a strikingly toned down punishment system where victims get wrapped in plastic and hung up like meat, before given a good whacking. Even the bevy of leggy beauties surrounding Anthony Wong fit the flower vase mold, and if Yau were to be given the green light, well I guess we all know what could happen.The most powerful scenes and subplot that could be expanded here, involved choice to do the right thing given the circumstances presented, and of course for the greater good. There were two characters who are in stark contrasts with each other, each being in the same boat, but ultimately taking different paths in their lives, with different consequences. Laughter's story, if compared to that of Andy Lau's character in Infernal Affairs, seemed to emerge stronger with a better deal of sorts in convincingly arguing his case of transforming from triad to cop, but alas the twin distractions of Francis Ng doing what he's best, and Anthony Wong's androgynous look complete with lipstick, eyeliner and the Mohawk, seemed to have stolen a lot of thunder.Definitely for the fans of the series only, and those who do not mind Ng and Wong reprising the same old roles all over again.

Fans of popular Hong Kong drama series, E.U (2009) will remember Laughing, better known as Laughing Gor, the undercover cop, in which the role leads actor Michael Tse to fame in Asia. Now, here comes the movie version on the life of Laughing, which gives the viewers of E.U a better idea on the background of Laughing.The story begins with the police receiving tips from Laughing on drug smuggling, which ends up with the arrest of Laughing and how he was wanted by both the police and the secret society. One wants him alive, another wants him dead. The arrest was led by Officer Pun (Felix Wong), which mistakes Laughing as a gangster. Pun's working partner, Officer Sin (Yuen Biao), met with an car accident, which puts him to a coma and unable to identify Laughing is a police.On the other side of the law, Brother Yat (Anthony Wong), Laughing's mentor, is protecting Laughing from being killed by gang members under the instruction of his rival, Zatoi (Francis Ng). The 90 minute movie continues with the flashback of the relationship between everyone on how were they related to each other.Directed by Herman Yau, Turning Point marks the comeback movie of Shaw Brothers Studio from Hong Kong. A movie made under the joint collaboration with Television Broadcasting International (TVBI), the thriller opens with a healthy box office taking on the opening week. However, the movie not only seemed to be half-baked, but the standard is also a far cry from the movies made during their heydays in the 60's and 70's, where Shaw Brothers dominated the Hong Kong film industry back then.Turning Point can be easily related to Infernal Affairs (2002), where Michael's role of Laughing is a reprise of Yan by Tony Leung Chiu Wai. Apart from the story, the presentation looks very much like a summarized version of a typical TVBI drama series. From the opening credits, editing to the flow of the story, it follows exactly the style TVBI presented their drama series.The movie focuses on how Laughing made his escape, and try to avoid the killing from the secret society after the opening scene. The process is short, thus it is back by various flashbacks on the past, such as how Laughing ends up a gangster, Brother Yat's past with the police force, and Laughing's love life with Karen (Fala Chen), the younger sister of Zatoi. An overdoing of flashbacks has kill the joy of watching the movie, which leads to plenty of confusion.The only selling point of the movie is the special appearance of Eric Tsang, Ron Ng and Samuel Chan. While Eric's appearance as the gang leader is a resemblance of his role as Sam in Infernal Affairs, it doesn't help much to live up the story. Ron and Samuel, on the other hand, makes a minimal appearance at the end of the movie, where their appearance leads to the story in E.U, where both, together with Michael, makes the biggest attraction in the series.An advice for fans of Shaw Brothers classics: even though the old Shaw Brothers logo was featured in the movie, do not expect to see their opening logo at the start of the film.There is a long way for Shaw Brothers to go, after disappearing from the Hong Kong film industry for 12 years.