Ren zai jiong tu: Tai jiong

A typical "zany" Asian comedy, with the usual overacting and mugging... It does make a bit more sense and is probably funnier if you've lived in Asia awhile and grasp the archetypes and the social situations. But it's nothing special. Western comedies work more along the lines of playing it 'straight' - the characters in a comedy are not supposed to be aware that what they are doing is comedic. Only the main character, played by Zheng Xu, handles it this way - presumably because he is the 'straight man'. You can tell that he can actually act.

The movie is an excellent travelogue for Thailand (though there are no actual Thai characters - apparently, Thailand is a landscape and a bunch of featured activities, and the people who inhabit it - indeed created it - are somewhat irrelevant.) It has sparked a craze of Chinese tourists coming to Chiang Mai in droves, wanting only to retrace the characters' steps and check the same activities off the bucket list...

Thai media reports say that the influx of hacking,spitting, bossy, blunt and stingy mainland Chinese is driving the much more natty locals a bit nuts. In response to this distaste, the Chinese government recently issued a 64-page booklet of Do's and Don'ts (mostly Don'ts), urging Chinese tourists to represent their country better by not spitting out bones on restaurant floors and flushing the toilet after taking a dump.

The first half of the film is particularly wonderful, with a good laugh point, careful production and smooth editing and transition. The combination of Xu Zheng and Wang Baoqiang is the guarantee of Chinese comedy films.

Expected to see protagonists in funny situations based on cultural differences and Thailand-specific activities/places. So, like any other "X goes to Y" movie. Heavily disappointed. Not nearly enough Thailand, too much Chinese over-acting. It seems that the script was written by a kid that heard a thing or two about Thailand. Weak in every aspect.

Thailand is really beautiful. It's the key to success to be able to catch up with the end of Christmas. Now domestic films can also make entertaining films. The biggest difference between this and the front is that it's not all a journey. In this case, Thai demons and temples have been brought into full play. And oh, that snake bite wound is too fake, at least apply some purple medicine... For a domestic film, I think it would be better to do this, at least everyone can laugh. The plot is reasonable, so don't go into it.

Sadly, this is another lame movie that passes for popular in China. It's disappointing to see that Wang Baoqing has a knack for playing a painfully annoying character; Wang is pretty good at being an ordinary guy in indie movies, i.e. the amazing Blind Shaft. Here, Wang is cartoonishly destructive and annoying, and armed with a cactus. He's supposed to be a hapless idiot, but really he seems to want to be an injurious nincompoop.

The boss is another character that seems outlandish to me, but maybe less so to Chinese audiences. I find it hard to fathom someone so stiff and smarmy. Compared to these wackos, Xu is too straight. Perhaps it's that I'm American, but I can't see past this. With good Chinese independent films, there is little lost in translation; it's a smack of reality. With this movie, I can't seem to enjoy Chinese-style wacky comedy.