Im Not Gangster Review: Mark Lee Twerks, Then The Malaysian Mob Movie Pulls Off A Shockingly Smart Twist

Im Not Gangster (NC16)

Starring Songbill, Mark Lee, Dahee, Adeline Wong, Morn Liew, Zuvia

Directed by Vince Chong

At first, you’d think this Malaysian comedy about a born loser transformed into an instant gangster boss via a very extreme makeover is just an ordinary, cheapo Korean-style movie knockoff.

I mean, Mark Lee twerks a super cringy dance here.

Until its huge twist.

Then you realise that this is actually a pretty good, cleverly set up flick which itself may be remade into a Korean pic. The twist isn’t new. But it’s the way it’s executed.

Well, it got me.

Subtle hints are dropped along the way about the hidden plot that you’ll likely miss. I had to see this show twice to appreciate its creativity, craft and especially enthusiasm by its big, likeable cast and crew.

We’re talking a really large crowd since this is the second feature produced by Dissy, a Malaysian company of content creators, influencers and YouTubers, after last year’s Close Ur Kopitiam. These same actors, popping up again en masse like a happy free-skit commune, apparently don’t like apostrophes in their film titles.

Man, from that straightforward first tale to this more complex deal, it’s quite an impressive jump.

Director-writer Vince Chong coaxes a fine performance out of lead dude Songbill as Ah Loong, said loser-turned-leader. With effective backing from the supporting folks playing thugs, cops, citizens and a sweetie-pie mob accountant, Apple (Adeline Wong), whom Loong woos, looking like Miss Saintly Universe 2026.

It’s all very cut-rate across-Causeway humour. Not so much in your face but in their zone of jiuhu accents, traits and strange customs. The quirkiest — actually quite smart — of which is the gang fights here are fought with bolsters and pillows to qualify as a family show.

Overlooked, overstepped, over-dumped sad sack Loong gets rejected by job interviewers, girlfriend and basically everybody. He’s scolded incessantly by his convenience-store boss and even some guy being beaten up by heavies mocks him for gawking.

From out of nowhere, a chance encounter in a dark alley with a stabbed and dying samseng head, Hao Lian (Lee), results in Loong being handed a powerful “dragon baton” and a password which turns out to be that low-class Mark Lee dance.

Suddenly, the man finds himself chosen as the accidental head honcho of a century-old KL mob gang, the Yi Qi Society, that’s populated by stock wackos. Despite, of course, the objections of senior hood HODs — meaning: department heads of hotels, nightclubs, massage parlours, laundromats and “community security fee”, aka protection money, collection. One big bearded fella, Hua Hee (Dahee), chief debt collector, is bang-table pissed off.

Loong, initially a puppy out of his depth, grows into the new top dog as he becomes meaner controlling the pai kias, beating up weaklings, facing down enemies with the mata monitoring the “internal power struggle” secretly from a distance. “A boss needs some blood on his records,” advises his kiss-butt right-hand man, Ah Keong (Morn Liew), as bolster battles loom.

There’s even a KPI meter appearing onscreen rating the new supremo's boss-level performance.

Which makes you go kinda “okay lor” chuckling occasionally at the comical-clunky proceedings here. Including an amusing Chinese-Malay-English police interrogation scene which you wish there was more of to break the Chinese-centric focus. I mean, Malaysian filmmaking has reached a standard high enough for a melting pot to really cook.

Anyway, all this happens until the story flips. Entirely. And quite superbly.

I won’t say anymore. Except to mention that folks in this fun, sly pic have something entertaining to say about the state of the art about their art.

“Do people still watch Malaysian Chinese films?” someone actually asks this meta question.

Here.

Try this one. (3.5/5 stars) in cinemas now

Photo: GV Pictures