Essence [Jasmine] Lost in Thailand Movie Review

Review of "Lost in Thailand" When I first saw the trailer, I began looking forward to this film. It was my first time watching a premiere and the first time writing a long review here; it's been a long time since I wrote an article, so I'll briefly record my thoughts after watching Lost in Thailand. After watching this movie, I felt genuinely happy laughing! I originally intended to watch it for Xu Zheng, but I didn't do my homework well. Only when I arrived did I realize that Xu Zheng played four roles in the film: director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. Before that, I worried whether this would be the sequel to the first film and whether it would repeat the pitfalls many sequels fall into. Two minutes into the film, I realized I had worried unnecessarily. Although he still collaborated with Wang Baoqiang, due to changes in character settings, Xu Zheng became a developer of new energy, and Wang Baoqiang became someone accepting new things, a kind of "rural non-specialty" (I really can't think of a better word to describe him, I really don't like Wang Baoqiang). Additionally, a new character, Huang Bo, was added as a partner who fell out with Xu Zheng over interests, and the story unfolds on their journey to achieve their goal (shares). I'll tentatively call it a road comedy. Many students previously told me they found "Lost on Journey" very interesting. I watched it and felt it was too forced. Many scenes seemed designed just to poke at you with trivial annoyances, making the laughter somewhat reluctant. Including dropping from a plane, catching a train with obstacles, then having a car accident… I felt all of it was too fake and overly sentimental. The characters in Lost in Thailand are more realistic. The film brings Wang Baoqiang's character to life. I don't know if it's an illusion, but I even feel that Wang Baoqiang's acting has improved a lot. "Bao Bao" is someone starting to encounter new things, with a slightly silly personality and a single-minded brain. It is precisely because of his silliness and single-mindedness that the journey in Lost in Thailand is filled with various interesting events—naturally happening, naturally organized, all very natural, not forced or pretentious. Hollywood has a saying about movies: in a film, a character's happiness should not exceed five minutes. In other words, we are in the cinema to watch others' misfortunes. So Xu Zheng and Huang Bo take on this role of “misfortune.” Of course, many of their misfortunes are somewhat self-inflicted. Naturally, at the film's end, Xu Zheng attains true happiness in life.In the film, there are many contrasts: the contrast between Huang Bo and Xu Zheng, their different ways of handling the same situation, Huang Bo's unscrupulous methods versus Xu Zheng's refusal to sacrifice the environment for personal gain, as well as their families and attitudes toward love...

The film's pacing is well handled, basically divided into three rises and three falls. It gives the audience a bit of breathing space between laughs, with elements like scissors hands, astrology, Journey to the West... and finally Fan Bingbing's special surprise, all of which bring a refreshing feeling.

Very few domestic comedies can achieve this effect. This is director Xu Zheng's first film, and we hope for more excellent works in the future. It also makes one feel that so-called masters in the domestic film industry should be more serious with their movies, and not assume the audience is foolish and easily fooled, because then the box office would also be deceived...

Lost in Thailand is really hilarious and definitely worth watching.