(Review) Ah Beng: Mission Impossible

IN ALL honesty, I’ve never been a fan of the Ah Beng movie franchise and sitting through these movies every year is a challenge.
Ah Beng: Mission ­Impossible was an impossible mission to get through without cringing and wincing.
The biggest problem with the movie is that it takes itself too seriously. The film tries to be a drama and comedy but fails to deliver on both.
Sure, it has its funny ­moments every now and then, but again, it isn’t ­anything that you haven’t heard or seen before in other ­comedies.
The only time I actually laughed was during the terribly-done CGI car accidents and ­explosions during an unnecessary car chase scene.
The movie also tries to offer a touching moral tone but ­unfortunately, the story and plot need to be ­improved and enhanced to make the movie more ­convincing.
Granted that product placements are less obvious this time around and the also directing has improved so it looks less like a 104-minute-long commercial compared to last year’s Once Upon a Time.
Overall, in an attempt to inject ‘humour’ in the story, the ­screenwriters have somehow messed it up with an ­incoherent plot. They were too ­ambitious and included too many ­unnecessary subplots and ­characters.
Ah Beng: ­Mission Impossible ­begins with security guard Ah Beng (Jack Lim) being asked to cancel his ­Chinese New Year holiday to go on a mission that promises a ­handsome RM1 ­million reward.
He accepts and heads for Korea with his friend, Ah Hien (Jeff Chin), to meet a couple (played by Remon Lim and Albert Nico).
Ah Beng’s mission is to ­impersonate professional bodyguard Mark Ma, who turns out to be a rich man’s long-lost son and heir to a RM500 million fortune. Mark also happens to have an attractive younger sister, Maggie Ma (Yumi Wong).
Ah Beng’s ­seemingly-simple ­mission eventually ­implicates his entire family and hence affects his ­relationship with Ham Yu Lian (Chen Keat Yoke).
In some ways, I did enjoy Chen’s acting as she is a ­decent dramatic ­actress and has a potential to go places. I feel she really ­deserves a better screenplay.
I know, by now, you are ­probably curious enough to buy tickets to watch the movie just to see how bad it really is. All I can say is have ‘fun’ watching it and happy Chinese New Year!