"Crowded" is a relatively little-known remake of the 2012 Japanese film "The Way to Steal the Key", and the 2016 Korean movie "Lucky Key" is also based on it.
Adapted and directed by Rao Xiaozhi and starring Andy Lau and chopstick brother Xiao Yang, "Surging Crowds" tells the story of professional killer Zhou Quan (Andy Lau) and the down-and-out mass actor Chen Xiaomeng (Xiao Yang) swapping identities.
At the beginning of the film, we see how Andy Lau's character skillfully carries out the killing, and then the camera switches to the scene of Chen Xiaomeng's suicide attempt before going to the bathhouse to take a bath. In the bathhouse, the two meet, and after Zhou Quan fell down and lost his memory, Chen Xiaomeng pretended to be Zhou Quan's identity. Zhou Quan wakes up to find that "he" is just a poor actor living in a dilapidated rental apartment, while Chen Xiaomeng squanders his wealth and does not know that "he" is a hired killer.
The first hour of this comedy is straightforward and full of humor, Chen Xiaomeng enjoys the wealth of others, Zhou Quan and single mother Li Xiang (Wan Qian) are in love with each other, and try to learn to become an actor. Of course, there are many other things that happen, especially after the underworld figure Hui Jie hired Chen Xiaomeng to kill and rob her husband's girlfriend.
Andy Lau and Xiao Yang's comedic performances are not exaggerated, and the plot does not need them to be exaggerated. "Crowded" does not have a fantasy body exchange like "Flying Over the Future" and "Hot Mom Hot Girls", but makes the plot as realistic as possible. Overall, Andy Lau's performance is mediocre, although he is in his 50s, but compared with his 38-year-old partner Wan Qian, he still looks very good. Xiao Yang has already proved in "Manslaughter" that he is not just a comedian, and this time playing Chen Xiaomeng, the embarrassing, funny and not disgusting role image he created is equally convincing.
The most obvious flaw in the whole film is that the last scene is too complicated and complicated. Zhou Quan recovered his memory, Li Xiang's son was kidnapped, and Sister Hui wanted to kill Chen Xiaomeng. Without revealing the so-called great reversal, the outcome is basically like this. To be honest, if you want to see action scenes, there is almost none here, although Rao Xiaozhi does pay tribute to a series of classic Hong Kong movies such as "The True Colors of Heroes" and "Heavenly Love" in the form of easter eggs, but audiences who are too young may not notice at all.
However, it must be admitted that although Rao Xiaozhi's remake version is more restricted, it is also very careful. Crowded largely satisfies the audience's expectations for identity swap comedy, without any vulgar body jokes and aggressive humor, providing everyone with a light experience of escapism. Just like other Spring Festival movies, everyone is happy.