[Review] YOLO (7.5/10) {Re La Gun Tang}

 Title - YOLO {Re La Gun Tang}
Production - China Film Co. Ltd., Alibaba Pictures Group, New Classic Media
Starring - Jia Ling, Lei Jia Yin, Zhao Hai Yan, Zhang Xiao Fei, Yang Zi, Li Xue Qin, Qiao Shan, Sha Yi, Zhu Tian Fu, Zhang Qi
Writer - Sun Ji Bin, Liu Hong Lu, Jia Ling, Guo Yu Peng, Bu Yu
Director - Jia Ling
Release - 10 February 2024

I can't help but draw comparisons with how Kumail Nanjiani used the studios money to get into superhero shape, even when the script didn't require him to be.

Here, director and actress Jia Ling used this film to shed off over 100 pounds, even with a shot of herself (not her character) at the end of the movie fulfilling her dream of wearing a white dress with the wind in her hair.

Nevertheless, she deserved it. Took over a year to shoot the movie as her slimming down happened concurrently with the plot

The story itself took a bit too long to get to the "main course". And Jia Ling took her time to build the character up, with multiple "music video"-long sequences that took up way too much time. 

There was a very memorable shot of her walking up to her apartment in the middle of a rainstorm. Cinematography was superb, however, she walked up like six flights of stairs to the top floor and we had to sit through the entire thing.

The movie did not need to be that long, especially the first half. However, the humour was on point. I particularly enjoyed the beginning of the movie when she found out her boyfriend was cheating on her, a setup that had a very good pay-off, credit to Li Xue Qin's comedic timing.

But once she got in the ring, that was the real treat. Without any edits, it felt real and grounded; because I imagined that's how a newbie would feel and fight in their first match: scared, pensive, flailing. All the training went out the window. 

And, of course, the highlight of the entire movie was the emergence of a physically different person walking out into the ring. Again, it should have been shorter but it was quite a feat to pull off.

With a better editor for the film, this could have been better. As it is, still a very commendable remake of a 10-year old Japanese original.