SYNOPSIS:
Twelve-year-old
Kong is an unhappy child, ever since his mother’s suicide three years
ago, which he blames on his father and stepmother for.
He yearns
for freedom as much as he yearns for love and he believes that he can finally
find peace and happiness, should be able to outgrow his treacherous father.
One unspectacular
evening Kong decides to run away from home after another customary tiff
with his stepmother. He chances upon an eerie old man, who claims he has
a potion that can speed up the life process. As much as he would like to
believe it, this is all baloney to him. So when he accidentally taints his
blood with the potion, he hardly expects his fate is about to change forever...
MOVIE
REVIEW :
Ever wish you could grow up as quickly as possible when you were a kid?
Or the agony of not aligning with adults thinking and thought you could
accomplish things far better than them? Well, Teddy Chen’s latest
effort “Wait ‘Till You Are Older” is all about these so-called
struggles and misery.
Our protégé,
Kong is a rebellious 12-year-old kid, he has a habit of running away from
home after his squabbles with his father (played wonderfully by TV veteran
Felix Wong) and step-mom (Karen Mok) whom he believed to be the cause of
his natural mother’s suicide. Kong sought freedom more than anything
else and yearns to be an adult so that he could leave his family. A chance
encounter with a weird old man in the park gave him a chance to become a
full-grown adult (Andy Lau in yet another role which requires him to don
heavy makeup effects). That’s where the premise of the plotline turns
into a fantasy yet poignant setting.
Director Teddy
Chen who is well known for such action blockbusters “Purple Storm”
and “Accidental Spy” gave a wonderful touching treatment to
the whole film. Without letting its makeup effects take center stage, Chen
cleverly aroused the audience’s attention to the now grown-up Kong’s
point of view of the dilemmas faced by the adults surrounding him including
his father, his vice-principal and Miss Lee, the teacher whom he has a crush
on.
Look out for
Mainland renowned director Feng Xiaogang who plays the role of the weird
old man. Dispensing nuggets of wisdom, which is both ingenious and wretched
when you think of it in reality.
It’s
fortunate that Teddy Chen didn’t cave in for a more predictable ending.
Backed by a talented cast, well peppered with dry wit and a nice twist in
the end. This is a simple wonderful story that deserved more than a look.
The Tim Burtonsque (inspired by “Big Fish” and “Nightmare
before Christmas”?) liked art visuals at the opening credits deserved
a mention as well.
SPECIAL
FEATURES :
The dvd comes with a 10 minutes making-of feature. The most interesting
thing is seeing Andy Lau enduring at least 6 hours of make-up for his role.
Other than that is the usual interviews of the cast and crew.
AUDIO:
It's
pretty seldom you come across Mandarin movie with Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack
on the market but this disc does. But the only bad thing is you are not
given the choice to choose between Mandarin or the original Cantonese soundtrack.
If not, the audio and music tracks are quite nicely done on this dvd.
VISUAL:
For
such a new production, it's not surprising there isn't any visible artefacts
spotted. Colours are pretty rich and lush, dark shades are clearly defined.
In conclusion, a visually satisfying experience to watch at home.
MOVIE
RATING:
DVD RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
