Lulu the Movie

This "comedy" is dry and boring, hardly anyone laughs at this movie. The main character Michelle Chong repeats her silly act (a dance) throughout the entire show. She's like a one trick pony. There's hardly any character development in this movie, and majority of the acting is plainly bad. The plot is shallow and meaningless. Which fails to tug the heart strings nor tickle the audience. Furthermore, this movie tried too hard to shove down product placement down the audience's throat, that I felt like I was watching a badly crafted commercial. It was painful to watch, and I felt like I throw good money & time down the drain.

The characters are hollow and somewhat imaginary. The performance is both plain and over-exaggerated. The plot is mostly cliche and for comedic effects, though it's not so funny actually.

As a Chinese national I personally feel uncomfortable and deeply insulted when watching this movie. It depicts the main character as an uneducated and uncivilized woman from China coming to the "civilized" world. However, there are too many unnecessary plots and details that emphasize how ignorant she is in a condescending way (with a connotation of inferiority), which is of course what makes people laugh. It reflects a certain stereotype present in the society, but a movie entertaining the audience by making fun of people from another country is blatant arrogance and discrimination to me.

When I stumbled upon this 2016 Singaporean comedy titled "Lulu the Movie" in 2023, of course I opted to watch the movie. I hadn't heard about it, but the movie's cover alone was more than enough to catch my attention. And of course with it being an Asian movie that I hadn't already seen was also making me want to watch it.

Writer and director Michelle Chong, whom also starred in the movie coincidentally, actually put together a rather enjoyable and funny script and storyline for the movie. I have to say that I genuinely and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. There are lots of good laughs and funny situations throughout the course of the 90 minutes that the movie ran for.

Of the entire cast ensemble in the movie, I was only familiar with actor Tian Wen Chen, whom only had a supporting role in the movie. Now, I wasn't familiar with leading actress Michelle Chong, whom also directed and wrote the movie, but she really put on a great performance and carried the movie quite well with her dual roles of both Lulu and Sonia.

"Lulu the Movie" snuck under my radar, but I have to say that if you enjoy Asian comedies then it is well-worth taking the time to sit down and watch. I was genuinely entertained and had some good laughs.

My rating of "Lulu the Movie" lands on a six out of ten stars.