

I Not Stupid Too (2006) (Singapore)

Director: Jack Neo
Cast: Shawn Lee, Ashley Leong, Joshua Ang, Jack Neo, Xiang Yun, Huang Yi Liang, Selena Tan, Johnny Ng and Nick Shen

What struck me initially was the English title ... ha ha
It is such a good use of "too" which sounds like "two" (the sequel) ... but strictly speaking, the characters are NOT a continuation of the 2002 film, although the cast is predominantly the same ...

The official site
see
http://www.inotstupid.com.sg/inotstupid2/index.htm
and
http://www.mediacorpraintree.com/instoo/

My thoughts ...

-- This time round, I thought the young cast did a remarkable job ... well done Joshua Ang, Shawn Lee, and Ashley Leong ...

-- The film managed to weave a few recent hot topics (which grabbed Singapore headlines) into the film ... so the events are kind of real ...
e.g., the issues about corporal punishment in schools (it did depict both sides of the story rather well)
e.g., the recording of a teacher abusing student and putting in on internet
e.g., the blogging charges recently 

-- The opening lines are ...
When was the last time you were praised? 
When was the last time you praise others? 
It must be quite long ago ...

-- Like the previous one
... it does have several thought provoking issues (education system, parents & children, work and family, friends, etc)
... it does have SEVERAL touching scenes, esp towards the last half ...
... overall, it is positive, with well intended messages ...

What could be better ...
-- most notably, I felt that the "digital" additions to some scenes are redundant, and worse, it made the film lose a sense of reality ...
-- next, i thought the initial 20-30 minutes or so should be heavily edited and accelerated (i.e., the subplot about the primary school kid being "pregnant"; although the idea of "communication" is there, the jokes/humor is not very striking) ... Instead, the BETTER SCENES are in the last one and half hour or so ...
-- also, I thought the director could have let some scenes remain sad or dramatic; instead, there is always a comical touch to those scenes, which I thought "spoil the mood" for the film to become really touching 
(I know it is a comedy, but I thought he was too unwilling to let the film becomes depressing even if it might be more effective ...) 
-- finally, I thought occasionally some of the dialogues are too contrived/intentional (at times, even the local audience can guess what will be spoken)
e.g., the "hmm, ngg, ohh" scene

Conclusion:
Above average ... it would have been much better if the director has addressed those issues that I mentioned ... hmmm, I wonder if he had a test audience ... nonetheless, I still recommend the film for a watch ...

PS: My friend like this film ...