The Rooftop (天台) Movie Review - SIMPLY AWESOME

It has been quite packed for me this week so far. Nevertheless, I managed to squeeze some time to catch the latest movie by my only and favourite Taiwanese artist currently - JAY CHOU!! Met up with Jinxing (the only fan who is probably willing to watch with me) and we saved some money by watching at The Cathay at 2pm - student price :D I didn't think too much about the movie because I thought it wasn't that interesting in his concert when he gave a sneak preview but I was WRONG. I'm so glad that this is the first movie I've caught in the cinema this year!

The Rooftop can be said to be a movie where Jay Chou had fun and also showcased his multiple talents in directing, acting, singing, songwriting, kungfu and dancing - all in one. He bravely experimented with a variety of genres, blended them to form a hybrid Bollywood-lesque & kungfu genre which we've never seen before -  comprising of musical, action, romance- something distinctly Jay & unique in the movie industry. I must say that the movie was wonderfully made technically with interesting camera angles, especially memorable during one of the scenes where Wax (played by Jay Chou) pinned for Starling (Li Xin'ai). The colours of the set was vibrant and a little ostentatious, but gave a theatrical effect. The music blended well with the dance and story line and the lyrics were pretty witty, adding light-hearted moments in the movie.

Personally, I felt that the storyline was pretty smooth, though less complicated that Secret, but I'm glad it ended well, or at least what is being inferred at the end - I dislike movies that have a cliffhanger -__- Basically, it is a romance-brotherhood story which seem to display Jay's true character - loyalty to his friends (which is evident in the cast) and shy towards the girl he fancies. Jay Chou plays Wax (Lang Zi Gao), named after his liking for waxing his hair; a loyal friend who always helps his buddies (Tempura/Hei Lun, Egg and Ah Lang) ; with a bad-ass don't-mess-with-me-or-I'll-kick-your-butt attitude; and awfully romantic as well. The story revolves around Wax and his neighbourhood - a rooftop slum that is culturally vibrant, and the common plot of the rich-poor divide with the poor guy fancying a rich girl is being employed here, together with the baddies as the gangsters. Well, the plot does not end there because the ending did become a little twisted and was pretty exciting because of the car chase action scene which causes the audience to hold their breath, hoping that something good would happen. But no, the plot did end realistically though ;)

star of the movie

pretty setup

I'll be quite generous because of the unexpected quality - 4 stars out of 5, despite the not-so-good press review : D