As
the protag of a break-up franchise, you would think Meng Yun would have plenty
of experience with failed relationships by now. However, he was not around for
the second installment. His buddy Yu Fei was there, but it was a very
difference Yu Fei. Tian Yu-sheng goes back to the original elements for the conclusion
of the [loose] trilogy, but Meng Yun is keenly aware he isn’t getting any
younger—and the final break-up is sure to be the hardest in Tian’s Ex-File 3: The Return of the Exes (trailer here), which opens today in New York.
Meng
Yun and Lin Jia probably never should have called it quits, but they are both
too stubborn to apologize or seriously examine their own faults. Their friends
Yu Fei and Ding Dian never should gave broken up either, but they still spend
so much time together, it is like they are still together. Frankly, they
largely broke up out of solidarity with their friends and will likely patch
things up sometime when they aren’t having closure sex.
Unfortunately,
Meng and Lin are an entirely different case. They still conspicuously pine for
each other, but they refuse to let go of their resentments and pride. As a
result, both will most likely cause nothing but frustration and heartache for
their subsequent romantic rebounds, but Lin’s former classmate and Wang Zi, the
niece of Meng’s new client are still eager to try.
Part
two was more of a traditional rom-com, but the Meng Yun installments better compare
with Pang Ho-cheung’s more mature and realistic Love in a Puff/the Buff/Off the Cuff trilogy, except Ex 3 gets surprisingly fatalistic down
the stretch. Basically, Tian wants us to understand you can still mess up a
relationship, even if it was meant to be. On the flip side, if you have a
chance to settle for someone who is attractive and compatible, don’t be an
idiot about it. Just do it, even if you are not head-over-heels for them. These
are points Meng and Jin will learn the hard way.
Han
Geng and Kelly Yu Wenwen look like a perfect couple, but they each show substantial
range, venturing into some dark and angsty places. In contrast, Ryan Zheng and Zheng
Meng Xue keep things light and naughty, but they are undeniably charismatic as
Meng and Lin’s shallow fuerdai-esque friends, Yu and Ding. They are certainly
well matched. Luo Mi’s Wang Zi deserves better than she gets in the film, but
conveys a fair degree of depth beneath her relentlessly cute and upbeat façade.