Keyboard Warriors 起底组 (2018) Review

Following her last year’s acclaimed roles in The Empty Hands and Somewhere Beyond the Mist, Stephy Tang continues to prove her worth as an actress in Keyboard Warriors, a crime comedy that also marks the directorial debut for novelist-cum-businessman Sit Ho-Ching.

Based on a real-life 2014 Christmas Eve cash spill case in Hong Kong, the movie involves a few crates full of cash accidentally fell out from an armoured van onto the busy streets. Among the witnesses of the incident includes internet nerds Ang Ray (Yau Hawk-Sau) and Jay Kwan (Lam Yiu-Sing), who plan to grab the money before they are stopped by an off-duty policewoman Nancy O (Stephy Tang).

When the police subsequently declared the case more of an accident than a planned heist, Ang and Jay form their own investigation team with the help of their anonymous internet buddies on Golden Forum to find out the truth.

Back to Stephy Tang, she’s the main reason that helps elevate the movie with her emotionally-affecting performance as Nancy O. Not only she is struggling on her job and even earns little respect from one of her fellow officers, she also has to put up with her bratty younger sister Mandy (Grace Chan) back home.

Speaking of Grace Chan, this marks the young TVB actress’ feature-length acting debut and she surprises me a lot with her better-than-average performance as the materialistic Mandy. Besides, given her track record of subpar acting roles in TVB dramas, I’m glad to see Chan has improved by leaps and bounds in this movie. Not to mention both Tang and Chan deliver strong chemistry as two opposing sisters. It would be nice to see these two actresses collaborate again in the future.

As for the rest of the actors, Yau Hawk-Sau and Lam Yiu-Sing provide equally solid supports as two internet nerds Ang Ray and Jay Kwan.

Sit Ho-Ching’s direction is effective enough, mixing social satire with a dash of wacky comedy and drama. Although the movie is a little rough around the edges, Keyboard Warriors remains a decent effort for a first-time director.