Following the success of "Money No Enough" (1998) ten years ago, which is undoubtedly Singapore's biggest box-office hit with an unsurpassed S$5.8 million, Jack Neo along with co-stars Mark Lee and Henry Thia are back in "Money No Enough 2".
i might not have caught Money no Enough 10 years ago, but this already gives me a good impression. Plot: The oldest brother Yang Bao Hui (by Henry Thia) represents the lower income group. As a child, Hui left school at an early age to earn money to help support his poverty stricken family. He has been working as a delivery man in the same company for the last 30 years. At the persuasion of his younger brother, he strikes out as an entrepreneur to sell health supplements. As business improves, he quits his dead-end job and puts all his time into the business. Unfortunately the business is forced to a standstill when the health supplement is deemed unsafe for public consumption, which inadvertently brings Bao Hui close to financial ruin.
The second brother Yang Bao Qiang (by Jack Neo) portrays a well-heeled successful businesman. As the owner of his own business, he and his wife flaunts their wealth in typical Singaporean fashion, with designer clothes, a flashy car and a big house to put it all in. However in a moment of greed, he allows himself to be cheated out of his fortune and gets into a very difficult financial situation.
The youngest brother Yang Bao Huang (by Mark Lee) represents the ordinary middle working class. He earns a good salary working as a regional supervisor for a health supplement trading company, and spends lavishly to maintain his ‘wannabe’ lifestyle. When the health supplement business goes bust, debts pile up and Bao Huang too, faces financial ruin.
As the winds of fortune changes, the brother’s begin to neglect their elderly mother. It was easy to be generous and filial during the good times but when household budgets tighten, what is the cost of true filial piety? Even the most basic arrangements, including whom mom should stay with, become a contentious issue. Remarks: I feel that the best piece of humor come from Henry Thia and his bad spelling. I mean, spelling manager as "manyzer"? a real laugh there. on the other hand, it is saddening that their mother dies. It really shows us that even money causes problems. Rating: 3.5/5 (70%) Conclusion: definitely a sequel. Special thanks: wikipedia.
After the runaway success of "Money No Enough", Jack Neo found it fit to celebrate 10 years of his esoteric films by releasing a sequel.
This time, Mark Lee (who lost his "Ah Long" ladyboy gait) and Henry Thia (who looks more and more like Ricki Hui each day) take centre stage as brothers with a multi-level marketing approach to success. Together they try to outdo their eldest brother (played by Neo himself), in being as filial as possible to their mother (Lai Ming). Representing three different stages of economic independence, the lot discover the difficulties in eking out a living in contemporary Singapore to be incredibly painful sometimes.
Interlacing computer-generated graphics with a story about how Singaporeans view themselves (including some intense views about the Electronic Road Pricing system in Singapore), Jack Neo's latest comedy is again social commentary that is too half-hearted to be taken seriously. Worse, the comic timing in "Money No Enough 2" really loses its edge compared to his other films. Henry Thia and Mark Lee carried the story but they could have been utilised a lot better.
All in all, this caper will find fans among Hokkiens and Singaporeans for sure – but should escape all others not particularly fond of content that is steeped in Singaporeana. For this lot, "Money No Enough" is definitely not enough.
Production Photos - Click thumbnail for larger photos
