Love Undercover 2: Love Mission

RATING: 5 out of 10

In the follow-up to last year's surprise hit Love Undercover, Miriam Yeung returns as a frazzled cop who is promoted after her heroic deeds in the first film. However, after a series of bumbles, she is nearly kicked off the force after she attacks the VIP (Coco Chiang) she is supposed to be protecting. It turns out the VIP is actually an undercover agent, and Miriam must take her place in order to catch a high-class theif, all while trying to keep her relationship with her boyfriend (Daniel Wu) from falling apart.

To be frank, I haven't seen the first movie, so I can't say how part 2 stacks up against it. But on its' own, Love Undercover 2: Love Mission comes off as just your average Hong Kong comedy. There are a few laughs here and there, but ultimately, this isn't anything special.

Probably the film's main stumbling block are the characters -- I just didn't really care about any of them. Miriam Yeung, unfortunately, come off the worst (frankly, her mannerisms annoyed me for much of the running time) and it's really hard to like a movie where you don't like the main character. The other actors seem to try and salvage matters, but the too-convoluted script and hit-and-miss direction undermine any work the actors put out.

Love Undercover 2 isn't a horrible movie by any means, but it never really seemed to hold much interest for me. Hong Kong seems to be cranking out these kinds of films by the boatload lately (as romantic comedies are one of the few economically viable genres at the sagging local box office), and I would think that most viewers could find something better to occupy their time with instead of a retread of the same old stuff gussied up with a fancy new title and freshly scrubbed neophyte stars.

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