LambBhuna

I've a love for both The Before Trilogy/Series and Hong Kong. Having seen those movies many times and exploring Hong Kong for many months.

I was excited to see this movie after reading the short synopsis but it wasn't apparent to me how influenced by The Before Series this movie is. It's so influenced it could be considered a remake but shot in another location.

I feel Miss Ting could have added more of her own creativity into the mix to try make this into something other than a clone of the Before set.

Scenes like the karaoke/Cantonese Opera and the Fortune Teller seem like they were put in to mirror aspects of those movies. Even the run time is similar as this is a short movie.

The movie was also poorly lit. I appreciate it was shot at night but there were times when it affected my viewing.

I didn't feel like the two leads had any chemistry and unlike the dialogue in Before Sunrise/Before Sunset I wasn't that interested in what they had to say.

I really enjoyed the journey as it was a walk around Hong Kong so I probably rated this higher than if it was set somewhere I had never been.

Maybe I'd have rated this higher if I'd never seen the Before Series but ultimately having seen those superior movies I felt a big disappointment.

It felt more like a student movie to me, even down to the soundtrack. The lyrics that roll over at the end made me laugh. Rhymes for Kowloon Tong.....

Go watch Before Sunrise/Before Sunset instead.