Main Page
Alphabetical Menu
Chronological Menu

Reviews for December 28th, 2018

Kill Mobile

Directed by Miao Yu




      Wen Bo (Tian Yu) and his wife, Dai Dai (Dai Lele), invite their friends for a dinner party and play a game that requires everyone to put their phones at the center of the table to hear eachother's calls and read each other's texts. Their friends include Jia Di (Tong Dawei) and his fiancee, Bai Xuejiao (Xi Mengyao), Wu Xioajiang (Qiao Shan) and his wife, Li Nan (Huo Siyan), and Han Xiao (Ma Li) who shows up solo.

      Kill Mobile follows the Korean remake of the Italian film Intimate Strangers, but it's very uneven and occasionally dull. The clunky screenplay by Xiao Li and Huan Wang doesn't do a great job of introducing you to the characters and allowing you to sense the dynamics of their friendship from the get-go. The humor falls flat more often than not, and the pacing and editing is too quick as though it were in a hurry to get from Point A to Point B. None of the relationships or characters ring true, so it's hard to care about anyone onscreen nor to care about what happens to any of their relationships. The screenwriters along with director Miao Yu at least take a few risks toward the end by adding darker elements with violence, but that change in tone feels incongruous and too sudden. This version isn't nearly as moving nor as captivating or suspenseful as the Korean version. At a brief running time of 90 minutes, Kill Mobile is a mildly engaging, but shallow remake.

Number of times I checked my watch: 3
Released by Tangren Cultural Film Group.
Opens at AMC Empire.
Questions? Comments? Please click here.


Main Page
Alphabetical Menu
Chronological Menu


______________________________________________________
Avi Offer
The NYC Movie Guru
themovieguru101@yahoo.com
Privacy Policy