Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)'s comments

Do you want to let us know what you think? Just login, after which you will be redirected back here and you can leave your comments.

Siskoid

Justin Lin's first solo directorial effort, Better Luck Tomorrow, is, like Shopping for Fangs (directed with Quentin Lee), a quirky crime story set in L.A. suburbs and starring an all-Asian cast. Some would say that with both films, he's trying to be the Asian-American Tarantino (but to be fair, Quentin Tarantino was always trying to be the African-American Tarantino, which isn't half as legitimate), but that's just the 90s inspiration. Despite the fun modern tricks, Better Luck Tomorrow has more in common with Scorsese's crime pictures, showing the rise and fall of a criminal gang... of high schoolers, with heavy narration. It's the story of over-achievers who, in their senior year, are getting bored and start doing mischief (I relate, but not with the truancy chosen), and from cheat sheets and simple scams eventually graduate to more serious crimes. It's entertaining and fun, and the characters have a complex dynamic that leaves you wanting more after the curtain falls. Of note is a role for young John Cho (who was also in Shopping for Fangs), but we also have Sung Kang as a character called Han Lue... and if you want to think he and the Han Lue Kang plays in the Fast and Furious movies are one and the same, I think you'd be right. Justin Lin would go on to become a great action director, but it's stuff like this that makes me miss his more character-driven movies.

1 year 8 months ago

Musanna

Pretty awesome.

12 years 1 month ago