Writer: Chan Sue Ching

Writer Ratings:
Overall:
Cast: NA
Plot: NA
Effects: NA
Cinematography: NA

Watch this if you liked: NA

"Buli Balik" has one of those delightful premises that has all the knobs and screws in place to go full steam ahead. The Malay comedy continues from the original "Buli" in which fat career man Nordin (Afdlin Shauki) suffers from inferiority complex because of his XXL size, a situation not helped by torments from his childhood bully, Roy (Hans Isaac). In the climatic end, Roy and his partner in crime Rudy (A.C. Mizal) try to ram the fat man down, only to be first hit by an on-coming lorry themselves.

In the sequel, we find out that scarred-faced criminal Rudy is hiding out in an old folks' home/mental hospital/small-time criminal rehabilitation centre (take your pick, the setting is so weak it could be any or all of the three), while the impact on Roy's head causes a loss of memory. For some reason, he also loses his big bully aura. Meanwhile, Nordin has stopped eating from his humble pie and made it big in a popular television quiz show, "Siapa Salah Kena Karan" ("Who's Wrong Gets Electrocuted"). What with his new-found game show popularity, a satisfied boss (Tan Sri Michael Soft, played by Patrick Teoh) and the beautiful doctor's attention, his self-esteem gets propelled sky high.

The cherry on the top is Roy. Vulnerable and in awe of the game show talent, ex-bully Roy eats out of Nordin's hand like a wounded puppy. Like I said, the knobs and screws are all in place, and we should be able to sit back to an entertaining slapstick with Nordin getting even for all the shameless bullying he's had to endure. He'll probably have an epiphany sometime near the end of the story and repent, but not before he rubs mud into Roy's face. Full steam ahead!

Unfortunately, the steam just turns into hot air, which is a shame since the lead cast, Afdlin, Hans and Nasha Aziz (she plays beautiful Dr Ika), are the sort of actors you like to root for. But the story is pulled in too many directions and misses the bullseye. First, there's Nordin struggling between helping Roy regain his memory or taking the opportunity to get even. Then there's Rudy who's out to settle a score with Roy and Nordin, there's Roy re-discovering his strained relationship with his dad, Nordin tryin to win Dr Ika's hand in marriage, Dr Selina (Umie Aida) holding a secret crush on Roy, Tan Sri Michael Soft becoming a pop star with an album and a music video in the making...In short, there are a lot of sub-stories with their own messages which took away from the main one, which probably should have been the Nordin-Roy conflict.

But Nordin's revenge is somewhat dampened because of his nice-guy dilemma. Sure, we know he's the nice guy, but must he be so nice to Roy that the only bullying he does is give the occasional household chore? Let's not forget, this was the bully who tried to drive a car into the man. As a result, the revenge-doesn't-pay message isn't quite fully fleshed out in "Buli Balik".

That said, there are plenty of laughs in this one, and Afdlin fans should be well-satisfied as he steals the screen with his charismatic humour whenever he's on. Ignore the unnecessarily dramatic ending, and you'll walk away with a couple of messages. What it is exactly, well...you'll have a few to choose from, that's for sure.

Cinema Online, 23 September 2008