| A portrayal of a teenager coming to terms with a dysfunctional family situation in the face of an unwelcome change internally. Believe it or not, Wilson Yip's The Mummy, Aged 19 actually is that but first and foremost, it's a very creative and lighthearted mainstream horror-comedy. Although Yip starts slow, he soon finds a delightful rhythm to his I Was A Teenage Mummy-storyline and his script comes with inspired and charming silliness. Main reason being that Yip clearly knows what he's doing and manages therefore to distance himself from cliché trappings, delivering his best mainstream effort in the process. Obviously, he's scored the highest critically in smaller character-driven dramas (preferably starring Francis Ng) but this return to horror shows that when Wilson Yip is let loose, he can really make Hong Kong cinema fly! Too bad the movie flopped...
Stars Tsui Tin-Yau (another one of director Fruit Chan's discoveries, who cast him in Little Cheung) and Wong You-Nam (another one Fruit Chan has also utilized, this time in Hollywood Hong Kong) are both members of the boy band Shine and that fact, and casting, should've automatically killed off any chances of a film featuring an ounce of actual creativity. Then again, mainstream in intent it may be but The Mummy, Aged 19 feels so much more like Wilson Yip's movie, that time has clearly been taken to utilize the boys the Yip-way, not the commercial driven way. Again, the movie flopped...
Familiar personnel from other Wilson Yip movies turn up in front and behind the camera, including Joe Ma (co-producer), Soi Cheang (line producer), Matt Chow and Joe Lee (with some truly priceless hair). Also starring Hui Siu-Hung, Tiffany Lee, Wyman Wong, Yuen King-Tan and Chapman To... |
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