Oversteer Review: Singapore’s First Car-Racing Movie Is Unbelievably Boring
Plus: Review of Matthew Vaughn's Argylle.

Oversteer (PG)
Starring Aden Tan, Zhang Yaodong, Tian Long, Jannassa Neo, Hanrey Low, Grace Teo
Directed by Derrick Lui
This local indie feature doesn’t deserve to be called Oversteer; Overhaul is a more fitting title. Narratively patchy and visually unappealing, “Singapore’s first car-racing movie” — but shot partly in Malaysia — needs to be taken apart, scrapped and rebuilt from scratch. Writer-director Lui's story, of a young man (Tan) who defies his domineering father (Zhang) to be a motorhead, is pure family drama hokum, woefully underwritten and risibly over-acted. Even the romance part — including a problematic encounter where one character forcibly kisses another — is awkwardly handled. Lui also throws in a random musical number which seems to belong in another movie. The shoestring-budget shortcomings are most obvious in the racing sequences: haphazardly filmed, amateurishly sound-mixed, and totally devoid of any shred of genuine excitement. It boggles the mind how Oversteer even got this far. The entire picture feels like a 20-part TV serial compressed into 86 minutes… and it still feels long. Maybe I was dreaming the whole thing. Or was it dreaming me? (1/5 stars) out in cinemas
Photos: Vogue Films
Argylle (PG13)
Starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Henry Cavill, John Cena, Bryan Cranston, Samuel L Jackson, Catherine O’Hara
Directed by Matthew Vaughn
The Kingsman helmer returns to the spy-vs-spy sandbox with this enjoyable albeit uneven (and PG13-rated) caper about an author (Howard) whose fictional books have real-life consequences on the intelligence community. The Apple TV+backed Romancing the Stone-meets-The Long Kiss Goodnight (think I just divulged a plot turn…ish) action-comedy at times feels like one of those generic star-studded titles streamers periodically churn out (hello, Ghosted!); other times there’s enough crazy juice to keep the plates spinning even as things get more twisty than twisted. The momentum loses a bit in the third act, but not before it drops a bonkers ice-skating set-piece. (2.5/5 stars) out in cinemas
Photo: UIP