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Rating: 2.9/5
Review: "Long Long Time Ago: Part 1 movie review"

"A wasted nostalgic film that is marred by a poor narrative strung up by a random bunch of scenes." 

In terms of story, Long Long Time Ago is flat-out the worst Jack Neo's film. Jack Neo is notoriously known for heavy product placement and releasing a redundant and unneeded second part to most of his recent films (Ah boys to men, Lion men come into mind). This is no different except the execution of the plot is worse.

The story: There is no clear distinction of a beginning, middle and ending. The 1 hour and 52 minutes film is made of major events strung up together. Some scenes drag and are pointless. The unclear distinction of a beginning, middle and ending serves a major flaw as I felt there isn't much progress in plot. I was waiting aimlessly for it to end. While the music is alright to the ears, it doesn't set the tone of the period very well. That to say, not everything is bad. The cast provide a serviceable performance. It is technically decent enough. Kudos to Jack and the art department for painstakingly creating the look and feel of that period. Though the major events in the film feel episodic, they are generally entertaining to watch with some humor. The climatic flood scene is worth a mention too.

Overall: With the episodic events in part 1, I am not convinced to watch part 2 in cinema. The whole feel of the film feels like a bigger scale TV film. Is it worth to catch in cinema on a weekend? I would say not. Is it worth to catch it at all? I would say it wouldn't hurt to watch it on TV or DVD with your family. For a nostalgic film, it is serviceable due to the decent production values but it could be much more than just a random bunch of scenes being strung up together.

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