Tuesday, November 12, 2013

3 Peas In A Pod (他她他) : Review


Synopsis

"3 Peas In A Pod" is a story about friendship and love. Three university students studying in Australia (Penny from Singapore, Perry from Taiwan and Peter from Korea) are good friends whose lives are intertwined with one another's. 

Just before they graduate and go back to their respective countries to embark on their working lives, the three friends decide to go on a road trip in the country they've been studying in for the last 4 years. 

Little do they know, this farewell holiday is a trip that would change their lives forever.

Source: Left Profile

What I Think

"3 Peas In A Pod" is Michelle Chong's second movie and somehow I have quite an expectation from her, especially since the first movie, "Already Famous" (一泡而红), was a very moving one. *Thumbs up* The only disappointment prior to watching the movie is that Michelle will not be acting in the show. She will only have a cameo appearance in one of the scene. Boo!

Photo Courtesy of Left Profile

After watching the trailer, we can roughly know how the movie is going to be like. 3 university besties (BFFs) going on a graduation road trip in South Australia before going back to their respective countries and move on with their working life. As expected, they have fun, some quarrels and then make up during the trip, knowing more about each other. To be honest, I do find the movie predictable and a little draggy in the beginning of the show. It is until the last 30 minutes or so, we see the twist to the storyline. I can guess some of the plots, but my friends are totally clueless even at the end of the movie. It took me a while to explain what actually happened till they realised the twist is so great! Now, they are impressed. You need to be totally 'feel' or 'into' the movie till the very end to understand the whole story. Else, you may want to watch the movie TWICE! =)


Calvin Chen (辰亦儒) is Perry, the Taiwanese scholar among the 3 peas. A very mysterious character, even Penny is unable to explain how did he ended up joining the 3 peas. No one know his likes or dislikes, but one thing for sure, he is very thoughtful and observant. He know exactly what the other two peas like. In one of my favorite scenes, when they are in a pub:
Perry: "There's lot of things you don't know about me"
Penny: "You never tell us."
Perry: "Well, you never ask"
3 simple lines, yet it meant so much to the movie and Perry.

Frankly speaking, I do not really like Calvin when he is in Fahrenheit. He is neither the most handsome of the boyband, nor did his vocal really stand out. But my views on Calvin changed after performance as Perry. He must thank Michelle in giving him this opportunity! He did very well indeed. I love his voice (and that accent!) and the way he deliver his lines. He sang the Chinese version of the theme song, "我與你", very well. I pre-ordered the album on iTunes due to this. I wonder why the movie doesn't make him look good in that pub scene where he is singing with teary eyes. But I guess, as a good artiste, you should not care about your image in the movie. To me, he did awesome.



Prior to the movie, I don't know who Alexander Lee Eusebio (亞歷山大) is. He is formerly a U-Kiss member. His character, Peter is the rich Korean heartthrob of the movie that Penny (and other girls in the University) attracted to. His life is often manipulated by his dad. He is supposed to return to South Korea for his arranged marriage after his university life. Despite all he has in life, no one understand what he really wanted, not even his BFFs. To his BFFs, he appeared to be the emotional one who can get moody all of a sudden. There is many scene where Alexander cannot be too exaggerating for his character and he did very well. His character became stronger after the twist at the end. Good Job! In case you still don't know, he is singing the Korean version of the theme song, "You and I".



Penny, the last pea in the pod, is the lucky lady caught in the middle of the two guys. Penny love Peter right from the beginning and is always by his side. She is the first and one seeing Peter cries (before Perry join them) and she always help Peter to copy the lecture notes. She slowly falling in love with Perry during the trip. Soon, she is caught in the situation of choosing between them. Jae Liew (柳勝美) was the lucky 'Penny' girl selected by Michelle Chong and her panel of judges, out of more than 800 hopefuls who came to auditioned for the role. As a newcomer, she did pretty well. Her acting, like the guys, is natural. The only scene I do not really like is when she is shouting at Peter, which I find it a little bit over the top. Go watch the movie if you wanted to know why she shouted at someone she loves so much.



To keep everyone in suspense, I shall not reveal the twist of the storyline. On overall, I love the plot and twist, something we don't normally see in movies. Technically, there are some areas that the movie can improve on though. Some of the scenes is doesn't really fit the twist, though I must applause to Michelle's ability to make a 360 degrees change to the story, simply by adding some scenes at the end. It is really amazing.

The movie portrays a very beautiful South Australia. Oh, I so wanted to do a road trip now! haha. The aerial shoot could be better though, the quality of the image seems a little blur/'noisy'.  Otherwise, it will be a great show.

The movie will be officially screened on 14th November 2013 in Singapore's cinemas.

Photo Courtesy of Left Profile

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Movie Trailer 1:


Movie Trailer 2:

Behind The Scene: