[Review] Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight: What Kind of Cult Tonight? (Slight Spoilers)

The other day, when I watched Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight, I found myself unable to immerse myself in the film for a long time, so my mind was constantly preoccupied with how to title this review. Should it be "Stay Tuned to Know More"? Or like Michael Ning's sharpest line in the movie: "Nonsensical"? In the end, I decided to go with "What Kind of Cult Tonight?"

Is Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight a cult film? This is one of the contentious points in the recent polarized public opinions about Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight. I am not an expert on cult films, and cult films themselves do not have a clear definition, so I will not attempt to answer this question here. But I believe that even if this film is a cult film, it is not a reason to defend it. I think the biggest problem with the film is not whether it's "cult" or the script itself, but rather its inconsistent tone and some abruptly emotional scenes.

My feeling while watching Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight was very similar to my earlier experiences with DC's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Marvel's Iron Fist. My dissatisfaction wasn't just about a poorly written script, but about the film's pacing and structure. The zombie genre has existed for so many years that it has almost become a distinct film type, with its unique unwritten rules and cinematic language. Its themes generally revolve around the brilliance/darkness of human nature, the courage to survive, and family bonds. Clearly, Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight spends a lot of time on family affection and the courage to survive, inserting a melodramatic scene for almost every character. However, these emotional scenes often feel very abrupt. Many characters' personalities or emotions lack proper buildup; some even rely on a few simple lines of dialogue to explain their background before immediately "entering the mode," delivering emotional lines with emotional background music. Many times, the audience hasn't even had enough time to understand the characters' plights and personalities, or hasn't fully recovered from the previous scene, before the film shifts to a tear-jerking moment. How can this possibly engage the audience and evoke their emotions?

Furthermore, the problem with plot pacing isn't just limited to the emotional scenes; it also appears in tense moments. In the film, it often tries to tell the stories of several different characters simultaneously, and the pace of each scene varies greatly. When edited together, this makes the film look unusually disjointed, even creating an "anti-climactic" feeling. For example, there's a scene where the characters played by Michael Ning and Louis Cheung are being chased by zombies. Just as the plot starts to build tension and become a bit thrilling, the camera suddenly cuts to a very bland dramatic scene with the characters played by Alex Man and Carrie Ng. Soon after, the camera returns to Michael Ning and Louis Cheung confronting the zombies, but the audience has just been doused with cold water, making it difficult to suddenly re-engage with the tense plot. Therefore, the film's pacing and structure truly hinder audience immersion and make the film appear loose and incoherent.

Additionally, I understand the film's limited resources, making it impossible to include too many special effects or large-scale scenes. However, the film's few zombie scenes simply fail to create a sense of tension; they seem to be merely showcases for the zombie makeup and movements, unable to advance the plot or atmosphere. I watched this film with a friend who loves zombie movies, and he actually fell asleep. Honestly, I think the animated sequences in the film are a major highlight; at the very least, they managed to evoke my emotions and keep me engaged. Moreover, I had never before thought that local Hong Kong animation could be of such high quality, making me wish there were more animated segments.

As for the discussion about cult films, I do think this film has the potential to become one, but many elements and scenes aren't pushed far enough or are not daring enough, ultimately wasting their potential. Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight tells the story of two perpetually immature "slacker youths" (or "slacker middle-aged men") who have lived for years in their childhood "Heaven and Earth Double Dragon" world, only to encounter a zombie outbreak in Hong Kong. This premise is basically very similar to Edgar Wright's classic zombie cult film Shaun of the Dead. I even feel that Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight's "Heaven and Earth Double Dragon" and the character played by Cherry Ngan had more potential than those in Shaun of the Dead, but they were not well utilized. Secondly, characters like real estate agents constantly appear in the film with obvious satirical connotations. They, along with characters and settings like the delivery boy and the bowling alley, originally had a lot of room for development, but were ultimately wasted.

As for the actors' performances, Alex Man and Carrie Ng put in a lot of effort (the former is known for this), but as I mentioned earlier, the plot's pacing truly makes it difficult for audiences to get immersed, so their performances are somewhat wasted. Additionally, I found Louis Cheung's performance quite comedic, delivering many funny moments well.

I have always looked forward to watching an excellent local Hong Kong zombie film, but I was disappointed again this time. I hope Hong Kong filmmakers continue to work hard!