Same-old, same-old in Neo's kampung sortie

JACK Neo displays the potential of a half-decent filmmaker with Long Long Time Ago 2, the sequel and final part of his Chinese New Year box-office hit about kampung life set against the birth of modern Singapore.

Letting the melodrama and nostalgia factor drive the plot rather than using CGI to dramatise everything like he did in the first film, this follow-up is a much better effort though there is still plenty of room for improvement.

As expected, old habits die hard so the usual problems - excessive product placement, long-winded storytelling - that plague all of Neo's works are still here.