Chinese movies, especially Cantonese ones originating from Hong Kong, are a bit weird, in my opinion. I blame it on my upbringing and actually being able to speak Cantonese that I find many of the movies very cringy. Sometimes it seems as if they are trying too hard to be hilarious or them trying to cram and fit as many modern jokes and memes into the movie that make my eyes roll several times. Movies from China in the Mandarin language seem to be a bit more to my liking. Many years ago, I remembered watching a Hong Kong drama movie starring Aaron Kwok that was just brutally, insanely boring. I mean, it bored me to tears. I found that many Hong Kong drama movies are like that. With not much going on the screen combined with very little dialogue, it’s a fix for insomnia. With Rob N Roll, it looks to be a much more comedic action flick that I don’t mind giving a try.

In Rob N Roll, Aaron Kwok plays a hardcore bandit/bank robber. Of course, he’s not just any normal bank robber but one with some very strange behavioral ticks and morals, for better or worse. Two middle-aged men, Gordon Lam and Richie Jen, each going through some midlife crisis of their own, somehow get entangled in a botched robbery, and from there, hilarity and extreme coincidences occur that pit the three men together for a one-time job in which they hope to make a ton of money. Rob N Roll is a mildly fun watch if you’re into those kinds of silly oversea movies. I didn’t really feel the combo of Gordon and Richie. They had a few good moments, but that was it.

I was surprised to see so many violent shooting scenes throughout the movie. Yes, it’s a movie about robbing banks in which gunfights with the local police is expected, but I didn’t expect it at this level, especially since I believe it’s more of a comedic movie than a serious one. I’m not sure why they didn’t explain Aaron’s characters ticks, such as him having to always lick a candy/mint only to throw them away, or why he requires people to say “thank you” to him. The ending where it was explained that his son was stuck by lightning, literally struck by lightning, had me just cracking up (although I probably wasn’t supposed to, I think). If there’s another thing I’ve learned about Hong Kong movies is that they can seriously be over the top when it comes to comedy at times. In addition, Hong Kong movies tend to usually have a lot of cameos and guest appearances. This is one part I love about Hong Kong movies. Many actors and actresses are not afraid or too snobby to appear in these types of movies, if only for very brief appearances or stints. Unlike American actors, it doesn’t seem to appear to be about the money or whether it will ruin their image by appearing in either low budget movies or ones that won’t get noticed. The people in Hong Kong just look like they want to have fun, regardless of how silly a movie is and for that, I can never fault them.