Related stories

'Meet in Beijing' Arts Festival From Children in Beijing t o Children in Sichuan Meet in Beijing British Museum Artefacts on Display in Beijing Wedding Professionals in Hot Demand

Women Suddenly in Black

Women finally get even with their husbands! From the movie’s promotion, this seems to be the storyline of Men Suddenly in Black 2, a belated follow-up to the surprising 2003 hit Men Suddenly in Black, a production of Hong Kong-based Mei Ah Film Production Corporation Limited, directed by Zhong Qing. Since the first movie was about philandering males in Hong Kong, audiences may find themselves completely surprised by the sequel in which the men’s wives seek revenge.

Though Men Suddenly in Black has achieved classic status in its genre as a smart black comedy, it is a bit tough to follow. The movie delivers a witty, sometimes surprising commentary on the unspoken terms of marital infidelity. Men Suddenly in Black 2 expands upon that game, but it goes further by attempting to deliver a hard, and conspicuously female-centred lesson about why men and women really cheat––or at least it attempts to, but Zhong’s limp attempt to view male infidelity from the point of view of woman is more likely to disgust today’s women moviegoers than to appeal to them.

In Men Suddenly in Black 2, the husbands remain philanderers as they fool around in Macau and attempt to expand on their failed attempts at illicit joy in the previous film are not quelled. But this time their wives are on their trail, and in a twist, the husbands abandon their own plans and begin to follow their wives, leading to more awkward and off-colour situations than you would probably ever want to experience. Basically, the women jump through various hoops to get back at their husbands, while the men follow, spy, and sometimes attempt to intervene.

Unlike the first slyly inconclusive movie, Men Suddenly in Black 2 shoves its questionable themes down the audience’s throats full force. But in asserting that men have the right to fool around, while women are destined to do all in their means to win back their husbands’ hearts, Zhong can likely expect a public thrashing by feminists.