Back To The Past offers nostalgia overload and some silly fun

Back To The Past (PG13)

107 minutes, opens on Jan 1

★★★☆☆

The story: A group of mercenaries led by Ken (Michael Miu) storms a time-travel facility in Hong Kong. Ken wants to go back more than 2,000 years so he can replace Ying Ching (Raymond Lam) as the first emperor of China and change the course of history. But fellow time traveller Hong Siu-lung (Louis Koo) is already there and has used his knowledge of history to aid Ying Ching in his wars of unification. A three-cornered battle ensues between Ken, an emperor who sees Hong as a threat to his power, and Hong, who just wants to be left in peace.

The fan service trend in movies continues with this project, a follow-up to the science-fiction period drama series A Step Into Past (2001), produced by Hong Kong broadcaster TVB Jade. The series was adapted from Hong Kong science-fiction and wuxia writer Huang Yi’s 1990s novel of the same Chinese title.

Most of the cast reprise their roles, chief among them Koo and Lam, with Singaporean actress Michelle Saram, who played Princess Chiu Sin in the original show, dropping in for a cameo. Hong Kong action legend Sammo Hung is in charge of the action sequences.

This ride on the nostalgia train is a blatant cash grab and there is not a shred of doubt about that. But while some parts look cynically shoddy – the woefully pixelated digital effects look lifted from an early-2000s console game – its joyful spirit cannot be denied.

Made by Koo’s One Cool Film Production, it is peppered with in-jokes and insider references that only fans will get. His famous tan is mentioned at one point.

The Mandarin dub required for its screening in Singapore has, unfortunately, bled out much of its original Cantonese zestiness.

At the story’s heart is a classic male power fantasy, present in manga, anime and Chinese novels – a modern person travels to the past, where he is worshipped as a wizard. Beautiful women fall for him and, in the case of this story, Koo’s Hong takes two wives, who live in blissful harmony with each other. Make of that what you will.

The movie ups the ante with a set-up that might have come from an internet forum: If a dozen men armed with modern rifles and vehicles were sent back in time, could they defeat an ancient army armed with arrows and swords?

Koo’s film – and this is very much his project, artistically and financially – answers that question with a degree of style.

Hot take: This is a nostalgia-driven cash grab with bad digital effects, but its silly energy will appeal to fans of the original television series and more than a few supporters of Hong Kong action cinema.