Girls vs Gangsters

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dustin d "Ghostbusters (2016)" is to "Ghostbusters" what "Girls vs. Gangsters" is to "The Hangover Part II"--a terrible remake with a female cast. Three Chinese women and a younger tag-along go to Vietnam for a bachelorette party. They get too drunk, black out, and wake up on the beach naked and handcuffed to a box full of gold bars, one with an unwanted new tattoo, and a young future in-law is missing. They find their way to a beach hut where Mike Tyson and his tiger live. They will need to piece together the events of the previous night to find their missing companion. This is one of the few films I've seen where literally every creative decision was bafflingly misguided. The "jokes" were either off-putting or cringe-worthy. In an early scene, a woman gets stabbed in the breast, but it is OK because her breasts are fake. If it weren't bad enough we are asked to laugh about violence against women, the joke was thoroughly predictable. Other times you feel sorry for the actresses when their characters vomit on a corpse or have three potty scenes involving *ahem* passing a ring she accidentally swallowed. I'm not even sure why this was released in the U.S. A Venn diagram demonstrating the number of people who think barf and poop jokes are funny and those willing to read a movie with subtitles would have shown the number is exactly 0. Some jokes clearly went over my head as they seemed to refer to some bit of Chinese pop culture I wasn't familiar with, but could identify they were supposed to be jokes because of the set up and delivery. Jokes should be able to stand on their own if they're to transcend culture or time periods. References aren't jokes, and the laughs would come through recognition, not because they're genuinely funny. I just scoffed at other times, like when the three skinny women somehow beat up groups of muscular men and seasoned fighters a couple times, or when musical cues told me how I was supposed to feel in a scene, as the actresses had so little chemistry together one couldn't feel the emotions through their performances. Looking for a bright spot to justify giving this movie even one star... I did laugh a couple times. One joke that was set up well was when their driver met them at the airport, holding a sign with pictures of the three main characters circa high school. The three women, now in their mid-30s, but looking younger thanks to a heavy application of makeup, are unrecognizable as their high school selves. Anyone who has seen Chinese women made unrecognizable because of heavy makeup or Instagram filters could relate. Another laugh came during a boat chase when the bad girl told a henchman to catch the main characters, and he jumps from his boat and into the water, falling well short of his target. I'm actually not sure if this was a nice bit of slapstick or a poorly executed stunt, but it made me laugh. The story itself is also insipid, but true to the Hangover movies. There are no "clues" leading to the next scene. Things just happen, which makes the movie boring as there is no real narrative thrust, and the characters aren't in control of the story--events happen around them and to them without their influence or understanding. In the end, they find the future in-law by accident (just like in "The Hangover"). Overall, one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Girls vs Gangsters

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