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The Menu (导火新闻线) Movie Review

The Menu (导火新闻线) Movie Review | by tiffanyyong.com

Recommended Audience: Fans of Gregory Wong 王宗尧, Catherine Chau 周家怡, Kate Yeung 杨淇, Ng Man Tat 吴孟达 and The Menu 导火新闻线 Hong Kong Drama fans

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The Menu (导火新闻线) Movie Synopsis

‘The Menu’ follows a group of journalists who are pursuing a similar news story – an explosion in the C99’s television studio caused by Tam (Ng Man Tat). the-menu-movie-protagonistsThe reason behind his vicious act is to meet the Chief Executive who was freed from a rape and murder case 7 years ago which involved his daughter. The jury found the chief not guilty hence, Tam hopes to seek the truth through the bombing…

The Menu (导火新闻线) Viewer Rating: 4/5 ****

The Menu (导火新闻线) Movie Review:

Never judge a move by its trailer. This is what I felt after watching this film. I’ve caught the trailer for “The Menu” several times for the past one month, and honestly, I was less than impressed. I guess one main reason was not be able to recognize any of the cast (except Ng Man Tat) and it doesn’t seem to be film I “die die” have to watch.
The Menu MovieHong Kong drama lovers would most probably recognize the cast and the title as this movie is an extension from the web tv series “The Menu” in 2015 (I didn’t know until after watching the film). For the past few years, there has been quite a few Hong Kong dramas branching out to movies (such as Triumph in the Skies, Line Walker, Return of the Cuckoo) and most of them have produced rather mediocre results. While I won’t say this film is flawless, it is indeed one of the better Hong Kong drama-turned-movies I’ve seen so far.
Ng Man Tat The Menu MovieIt is all thanks to Ng Man Tat, the veteran actor most of us 70s-90s kid grew up with. Ng was a TV station gaffer Tam Yiu-chi (Ng Man-tat), who hijacked a TV studio, holding a group of production crew hostage just to make it to the news. His grieve reached out to the audience and it was easy to feel for the helpless man who had tried so many years to attempt to bring justice to his daughter’s rapist and murderer. The attempts were hindered by the HK law – principle of “double jeopardy”, which forbids the prosecution to press the same charge against the same person again. Ng was so good, that there were a few moments that I was worried that he would burst a blood vessel for real with his anger. Other times, I found myself crying out of anger (due to his plight).
The Menu Movie Still 2With the hostage incident as the focus, the fast-paced film revolved around the different groups of reporters from different traditional and digital news channels trying to out-win one another via speed, viewerships and engagements regardless of the moral pitfalls.

Although I’m not a journalist, this is rather relevant to the media industry. Be it acting, blogging or journalism, numbers’ the king in the online medium. The stress the editors and journalists received, the unscrupulous methods some resort to getting more viewerships, as well as the power media has on readers and government decisions were all pretty relevant and relatable to anyone in the Public Relations, Media or Advertising industry.
The Menu Movie StillIf you are wondering whether not knowing the characters or the nature of the story would affect your understanding of the story, the film spent a good 5 minutes of narration to briefly introduce the original cast from the drama, as well as cast who had died previously. It would be sufficient for most people as the story moved on pretty quickly. Aside from Kate Yeung who played Mallory Mak on her first day as a photojournalist who seem to have over-exaggerating expressions (it might just be how the character was like in the drama), the rest were all pretty convincing and legit.

Anyway, if you are wondering, after watching this alone, I ended up messaging all my friends who rejected watching this film with me to “die die” go and catch it. So give this film a chance, and be impressed by our favourite comedy actor. 🙂 And oh ya, there’s a post-credit scene. So remember to stay till the end.

Do You Know?

The Menu DramaThis movie is an extension from a Hong Kong web TV series with the same name. Most of the original cast were involved in the movie except Noel Leung (梁小冰).

The Menu movie Ng man tatThis is Ng Man Tat (吴孟达) first movie where he is the main lead. He has been acting since 1975 (41 years).

Behind The Scenes and Interviews

Check out The Menu (导火新闻线) Facebook Page!
The Menu (导火新闻线) is out in cinemas on 10 November 2016.

xoxo
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*Disclosure: Invitation from Shaw Organisation. No monetary compensation was received for the movie review.

15 thoughts on “The Menu (导火新闻线) Movie Review”

  1. After reading your post it actually sounds like an interesting movie. I like how the main character has may layers to him and is good at showing emotion, and how the journalists come into play.

  2. Looks intriguing tale! True, we should not judge the movie by trailer. But if I don’t like the trailer, I don’t watch the movie. Sometimes, I get terribly disappointed because trailer looks good but the movie is pathetic.

  3. The title of the movie and all those action shots caught my attention. It must be fun to be able to see all these movies. 🙂

  4. Whoah, the film sounds interesting and putting your own synopsis here made me thought that yes, we shouldn’t be judging a trailer itself because it has more to offer, for sure. I am not familiar of its series but I would still love to watch this film if I get the chance, though.

  5. I am intrigued of its title, “The Menu” on how does it affect the day-to-day activities of the journalists. The movie has sparked a great interest in me. How I wish I could see this movie.

  6. I’m not sure if I will watch this movie because it’s not the genre that I usually watch. If I can have someone to go with me and watch, maybe I will give it a try.

  7. Even with your high rating and explanations, the pictures still do not look like I will enjoy this film. I guess I will have to watch it for myself to judge, but we do not get HK movies here. – Fred

  8. I think many people can easily relate to this. 5 minutes narration is too long just to introduce the cast though. I hope most of the audience won’t get part from that part.

  9. Sounds like a great movie. With a plot that combines both action and drama I think this would be a very interesting watch. I think Ng Man Tat’s performance is one to look forward to as his character seems to be what will give life to the whole movie. Thanks for the in-depth review.

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