Ah Boys to Men 4 (Movie Review)

Last week I managed to watch the newly released Ah Boys to Men 4 at the cinema. The first Ah Boys to Men was released five years ago and ever since then the movie director, Jack Neo has came up with another three movies within 5 years time. This movie was also released to commemorate the 50 years of National Service (NS50). I enjoyed the first and the third movie although it's not great but some of the scenes were quite funny and touching. So let's read until the end of the review to find out my thoughts on this one.


Plot:
The film focuses on the main characters who have to juggle between their work and their reservist duties. After leaving the military, Lobang, Wayang King, Sergeant Ong, and Ken Chow are all busy with their respective career as civilians. That's until they are called back to serve the nation again under the Singapore Armed Forces' Armoured Formation. Now they must juggle between work and their reservist duties. What hilarious situations will happen as they train together and their military roles are reversed? There'll be new enemy threats and their brotherhood will be put to the test.



Director: Jack Neo
Producers: Jack Neo, Melvin Ang
Writer: Jack Neo, Ivan Ho
Starring: Joshua Tan, Maxi Lim, Wang Weiliang, Tosh Zhang, Apple Chan

Release date: November 23, 2017 (Malaysia)
Running time: 135 minutes
Trailer below:


This movie started of with narration by Tosh Zhang who are no stranger to those who watched the previous instalments. Just like the first three movies, there will be an introduction of what the army men will have to go through in Singapore (which is not relevant at all to Malaysian but it will be good if the government actually study them and apply it for our National Service previously). This time around, they are no longer in training but they are called back for reservist. So the trainers are not too harsh on them but at that point of time, Apple Chan who played as the role of Lt. Zhang Xin Yi wanted the guys to be more serious in their reservist duties. The introduction of some of the new characters were quite sloppy and I can't really feel the chemistry or brotherhood that was achieved in the previous instalment. Some of the jokes are outdated and the product placements was quite annoying this time. It doesn't have a dramatic build up as well and Apple Chan who were supposed to be strict was hindered by her cute appeal. I find that the Mediacorp's series When Duty Calls has done a better job in terms of building strong characters and producing a more meaningful storyline.

Conclusion: Third time's a charm, well fourth time is overkill. If they ever gonna make another NS movie again, I hope it's from a different director with all new cast or maybe just a few cameos of the old cast. Cinematography and visual effects are not great. Malaysian movie like The Journey and Ola Bola had better production quality and audience like me are exhausted with this movie franchise. I don't recommend anyone watching this movie at the cinema.

Rating: 1.5/5


.: Peace Out :.

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