Make no mistake, this caper-heist comedy from Hong Kong, starring all 12 members of the Cantopop outfit Mirror, is pure nonsense, but deliciously so. Presumably intended to tickle the fancy of Mirror’s many fans all over the world, even viewers who’ve never heard of this massive-selling pop group might be amused by the sheer silliness and unintentional campness of it all. As a plus, it’s practically a lookbook for a number of current menswear fashion brands.
The main conceit is that the lads are all members of a secret crime-busting fraternity called the League of Kaito who apparently, per the subtitles: “Hustle in hush, make everyone’s life better.” Which is nice. They are dispatched on missions by an unseen boss, sort of like Charlie’s Angels but with more tracksuits and (fractionally) less eyeliner. An opening montage introduces each of member of the league in turn, who all happen to have the same first names as the Mirror group members in real life, making it easier for the fans to follow their favourite.
For brevity’s sake, we’re not going to list each one’s special semi-magic skill, but said skills are on a spectrum of practicality and plausibility, from safe-cracking (Lokman Yeung, famed for his “locking” skills as a dancer) to lip-reading (Tiger Yau) to my favourite: animal telepathy (Anson Kong or AK). This last ability allows the film to have scenes where AK furrows his brow while we hear his voiced-over dialogue with an obedient but distractable alsatian whose thoughts we can also hear.
The plot, such as it is, revolves around the league trying to foil some nefarious scientists who have invented stuff like genetically modified chickens with multiple wings on one side of their bodies for some inexplicable reason, and zappers that can send mosquitoes to other universes. Sadly, AK has no conversations with either the chickens or the mosquitoes – but what the film lacks in cross-species conversation it makes up for with silly comedy bits, running gags and lots of goofy overacting. By the end, the greatest mystery is why the cast never actually perform any of their songs – but perhaps that will be in the sequel.
• We 12 is in UK cinemas now.
