Quick follows the escapades of biking speed maniac Gi-Su (Lee Min-Ki) and his ex-girlfriend-turned-aspiring-pop-star A-rom (Kang Ye-won). By some bizarre turn of events, the latter has a rigged helmet fixed to her noggin` by a mysterious antagonist, who threatens to blow the pair to kingdom come unless they deliver home-made bombs to designated locations.
If you surmised that the plot is in place solely to set-up big bike stunts framed by bigger explosions…well, you`d be right. Sure, there`s some cliche character exploration thrown in, mostly as an afterthought, but the film pretty much revolves around Lee Min-Ki (and some dauntless stuntmen) pulling off wheelie after wheelie on top of buildings, over moving vehicles and through crowded alleys.
If there was a movie award category called `Too Silly By Half`, Quick would undoubtedly be the unanimous winner. The film is replete with bike-themed slapstick, over-the-top histronics by the female lead and more bodily humour than an Adam Sandler movie. While snigger-inducing at first, the constant bombardment may wear thin on more sober audiences, considering the film`s bloated length of just under two hours. Attempts to inject sobriety into the last bits of the film come across as a generally half-hearted way to wrap up the film.
Quick is reminiscent of one of those cluttered, slightly cheap shops that one peruses while bumming around Bugis Street: irredeemably tacky, but something of a guilty pleasure.
Summary: Entertaining in itself, but goes nowhere quick.
Rating: 3/5 Raphael Lim
Opens: 2 Feb 2012