Movies
The Continent isn't very original or earth-shattering. It's funnier than I would've guessed, but that's mainly because Chinese films rarely combine drama and comedy in a very balanced way.
Starts off as a mediocre Chinese comedy, but as the film turns more serious and gets more enveloped in the rally drama, things get a lot better. Some really cool rally footage make the final 30 minutes tense and engaging, something I didn't really expect 30 minutes in. Han Han can do better, but this wasn't half bad really, especially for a sports comedy.
Han Han's career is spiraling. This somewhat unnecessary sequel fails to add anything to the original. On the contrary, the runtime is overly long and the first half felt weak and uninspired. The second part of the film manages to balance things out, but this is the weakest Han I've watched so far. The comedy is tame and not very funny, and the direction is very low-key, putting the focus on a narrative that is generic at best. The rally scenes are good though, which is why the latter half of the film is at least worth persevering. I doubt it'll happen, but I hope Han will return to his roots sooner rather than later.Read all