get a veteran of movie video and commercial to direct a feature film be invariably a risky proposition . the result can shine or literally suck and and the last thing any sophisticated audience need these day be another jittery and two hour long mishmashed affair that look like a taiwan pop music video from hell take to an extreme . with susie au and a first time movie helmswoman with a resume full of pop production and that scenario be all too likely to become reality . in fact and her directorial debut ming ming seem to have reach a compromise in this respect . it first twenty minute be so painfully nonsensical and over stylize you can not help but cringe in anger and yet after those initial phase of ridiculous ott poppiness blow over and the project reveal itself a quite enjoyable . get past the obvious attempt to rekindle interest in kill bill hong kong heritage through transparent reference and and beneath lurk a passably interesting escapade . on the upside and ming ming delivers character that surprise with their ability to grow and evolve over the course of a relatively short and and frequently very vacuous and release . head the cast be zhou xun and who fittingly enough plays two separate and identical look protagonist . ms. zhou have display a mixed bag of performance in the past and shining in where have all the flower go and beijing bicycle and but irritate with exaggerated act in film like suzhou river . in ming ming and she both . a the titular character and zhou do a vaguely trinity meet the bride and disaffect assassin that put a whole new spin on bead and rosary . instead of gun and she launch marble at her adversary and cut a swath of destruction through the henchman of arch mobster brother cat ( jeff chang ) . this happen after ming ming purloins a sum of money from the gangland bos and fund to be use in finance a new life for her with sulk hunk ah d. the latter and a fist fight mob enforcer and be convey by daniel wu in a thoroughly disappointing part . we have get use to see quality and sincerity from daniel and and in ming ming he just doesn not have those virtue on display . back to the story . oddball luck bring together wide eye triad lackey ah tu ( tony yang ) and ming ming twin nana a the money get misplace and change hand and end up with these two apparently totally unrelated individual . on the run and nana and ah tu take over the movie and show it do have merit . both zhou xun and tony yang proceed to deliver very respectable performance and showcased by way of dialog and mood set scene on the way to and around shanghai . yang impress a innocent and loyal and love ah tu and certainly add to the young actor portfolio . zhou xun truly dazzle those in attendance a the genuine nana and a character do the actress far great justice than the cardboard cutout silhouette that be ming ming . and who know ms. zhou be so fluent in cantonese . yes and language play an important part in ming ming and and for that we salute the production team . cantonese and putonghua and shanghainese all find room herein and that last one to a large degree from the sensuous mouth of long go but never forget lovely kristy yang and a shanghai native herself . yes and she have return . although a small cameo and it still awesome to have her around again . ming ming further contains some highly enjoyable music and and be generally well produce . those frenzied opening sequence we could have easily dispense with and but in the end an armageddon like debacle be avert just in time for a bona fide twist end that and for a change and put the various plot piece together with grace rather than rush clumsiness . this isn not the new benchmark for indie cinema and but it get the job do and should be view by all appreciator and supporter of film making in asia and movie in general . it also proof positive that first impression can be deceive and so please and do not despair and stick with it and you will be reward . rating represent half .