Baby Hero Review: Game Cast — Including Star-Producer Wang Weiliang — And A Few Exciting Action Scenes Save Haphazard S’pore-Thai CNY Farce - 8days Skip to main content

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Baby Hero Review: Game Cast — Including Star-Producer Wang Weiliang — And A Few Exciting Action Scenes Save Haphazard S’pore-Thai CNY Farce

This farcical part-adventure, part-action Singaporean-Thai comedy is dumbed down to being almost sophomoric.

Baby Hero Review: Game Cast — Including Star-Producer Wang Weiliang — And A Few Exciting Action Scenes Save Haphazard S’pore-Thai CNY Farce

Baby Hero (PG13)

Starring Long Lee, Wang Weiliang, Hayley Woo, Ya Hui, Vithaya Pansringarm

Directed by Kok Man Hon

A motley bunch of Singaporeans goes to stay at a rural village guesthouse in an idyllic “Happy Village” that's dubbed the happiest place in Thailand. Only one problem thieves and thugs show up to steal a blessed temple statuette that's hidden in the same place too.

This farcical part-adventure, part-action Singaporean-Thai comedy, set in Thailand, is dumbed down to being almost sophomoric. “Why do you always want to die?” goes one line. “Because I don't want to live,” comes the genius reply.

But the pic is chirpy, likeable and easy to follow if you're looking to be lightly and unstrenuously entertained. Despite one guy being spiked to death here in a played-for-laughs torture scene. But hey, who's complaining when a baddie says “Enjoy your death” as a parting wish?

Okay, Baby Hero — the wholesome Thai hero, Sun (Singaporean-Thai actor Long Lee), is called “baby” by his Singaporean girlfriend, Leena (Hayley Woo) lacks caper-ish twists and turns and is more corny than funny.

Sun, a singer-closet fighter, goes back to his charming wooden-bridges resort home — filmed in Sukhothai to help his village chief-grandpa (veteran actor Vithaya Pansringarm from 4 Kings II) fend off an army of thugs led by a nastie-baldie mob boss who covets the magical artifact to grant him unyielding happiness.

Leena, meanwhile, is the Singaporean princess who tags along, and it's actually kinda funny to see her shopping-mall displeasure clash with his padi-field demeanour.

Which makes you wish this tale — co-scripted by debut director Kok Man Hon (The Landlady Singer) was bolder, smarter and nuttier because it could've been black-comedy better with ingredients already there. Since the Thais are very good with haphazard comedy.

But, fortunately, its combo of familiar locals and Thai actors is a fun and pretty interesting draw. You can tell that the Thai cast have a natural, less inhibited rhythm which makes them more suitable for broad comedy than our studied, stilted folks. Making us the stiff foreign talent there.

Except for Wang Weiliang (Ah Boys To Men series) who steals the show as rascally cat burglar, Juker. He calls himself the “Southeast Asian Thief God” but is foiled everytime he accidentally saves a dumped-by-love sad sack, Meng Meng (Ya Hui), who's trying to kill herself.

Hired to pilfer the statuette by the gangster boss, the hapless Juker keeps bumping comically into Meng Meng via her suicidal hanging attempts and a loony zipline rescue to turn into an unintentional hero who seems like a pervert at the same time.

Wang flies the banner ably for Singapore by embarrassing himself with more gusto than the Thais. Including wriggling his bum uncontrollably under a voodoo-doll spell whenever the need arises.

It's crude, yes. But it's snigger-crude.

Two things save this flick from being chucked into the nondescript basket.

One, its Thai location. Is Thailand the new Hong Kong-style locale for Singapore films now since Mark Lee's upcoming drag-queen pic, Number 2, scoots over there too? There's something authentic about a Thai site with its sing-song language and engaging actors that are just very appealing for a movie.

Two, the action scenes here are a pretty good kick for a half-Singaporean film. Helmed apparently by people from Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, they rev up the slack with a climactic big battle, tourist bus chase and intrinsically unsafe wooden go-kart races called Formula Mong that look just go-to right for every suicidee.

Director Kok's handling of cast, scenes and scenery here makes them grow on you. His back-and-forth comedy of farce along a crisscross of timber bridges is quite zippy.

Just to see our Chen Tianwen, playing an investor-businessman, try to buy Pansringarm's happy paradise with suitcases of cash, girls — and then, just to play safe, guys is worth the ticket.

“With money, you'll be even happier,” Chen chirps with assured Singaporean aplomb.

It's always good to see cross-cultural exchanges go so well. (2.5/5 stars)

Photo: Hong Pictures

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