Taking inspiration from an act of bravery by Nguyen Ngoc Manh, who rescued a falling child from a high-rise building, director Vo Thach Thao places the heroic cape over the much-loved leading man Thai Hoa, who channels Nguyen in this comedy that throws a dramatic twist on the incident that garnered widespread praise and acclaim in his native Vietnam, and scaling the heights of scams and deceit.
“Million-dollar actor” Thai Hoa, of household hits such as “Blood Moon Party” (2020) and “Saigon Bodyguards” (2016), once again channels a hapless hero as down-on-his-luck taxi driver, Hung, who races against time to raise 50 thousand dollars for a liver transplant that could save his ailing daughter’s life. As time goes by, Hung realises that he must resort to some unscrupulous ways to fork up the cash that he critically needed.
After taking part in an illegal betting scam gone awry, Hung resorts to carrying out a scam of his own, together with his ne’er-do-well chum, Tuan (Vo Tan Phat), and neighbour, Vinh (Doan The Vinh), that sees them orchestrate a fake crisis event to make Hung a local hero, garnering sympathy donations from livestreaming his heroic exploits.
What follows is a series of rehearsal and training sessions that sees the self-sacrificial father prepare for the role of his lifetime. But what Vo Thach Thao and gang forgot was that “Mr Hero” was meant to be a comedy. The set up leading up to the rescue feels like it dragged on a little too long and is neither amusing nor funny enough to retain attention.
And to add insult to injury, all the acting that Thai Hoa seems to be doing is to just stare into space and not say much. But one could argue that it could also well be a stellar performance as that of a stereotypical Southeast Asian father whose words come few and far between, with only desperation to fuel them when push comes to shove. Meanwhile, the majority of the funnies came from the silly exploits and expressions of Vo Tan Phat, whose character’s blunders brought some colour to an otherwise sluggish affair.
A redeeming factor of the film is the impressive action sequences and CGI that heightened the thrills of the tense moments. That, and the choice to incorporate social media and livestreaming into the mix, bringing an air of relevance and appeal for the TikTok generation. Ultimately, “Mr Hero” decidedly takes the safe path with mise-en-scène and narrative choices that felt unremarkable and formulaic, appearing to be feel-good fodder that took its time, only setting up a conflict deep into the third act and quite unsatisfyingly so. Watch this for a quick fix, but don’t expect the feels to hit you.
