Back to the 90s (2015)

**Complexity isn't the time maze, but the romance.**

I don't remember when I saw my last Thai film. Looks like it has been nearly 3 years. Usually I like Thai films, particularly they are famous for small budget romance or horror films. I was drawn into Thai films, mainly for the teen romance-comedies from last one decade that I have seen and liked plenty of them. Really happy to be back and this time the film I picked was a little different theme which is a time- travel. I felt it was not bad, but felt should have been improved in a few areas.

The film is about the teenager Kong. When he upset with his parents who are fighting frequently, he decides to spend a night out. So makes a quick call to his friend in a rainy night. A while ago, he had found some old pictures, and a pager with a message beeping. Now he does a crazy thing by responding to it which transports him to the year 1995. He's not yet born, but he finds his parents' romance stumbling over another girl. He decides to sort it out and after the task how he makes back was revealed with a twist.

One thing I find hard in Thai films is the names of the actors, which are too long and almost impossible to pronounce. But I know a few actors, only by recognising them than by names. The last time I saw Pimchanok Leuwisetpaiboon in a small role from 'Bangkok Knockout'. But nobody can forget her from 'A Little Thing Called Love' as Nam. In this, the story was not presented from her perspective, though she was good in the character Som. The character was almost similar, like crazily being in love with her senior.

> "You have to feel like feeling good about someone and secretly falling in love."

When it comes to the time travel, this film was nothing special. They did not prioritise on that part, but concentrated more on the event followed. And again, I'm little disappointed on that, as the characters had flaws to fit-in in the time maze. Like if it was a loop, somebody from the future should have recognised the Kong, particularly his parents. So some parts of the film need to be explained, particularly for Kong completely exposing himself in the alternate time.

On the other side, it was a decent entertainer. Especially if you are not a Thai or don't know the Thai language, then the percentage goes down a bit. Because most of the comedies were hard to catch up in the subtitle translation as its meaning altered. Since it took place in the 90s, we don't know what was the trend in the Thailand at that time, especially the local music industry where most of the film plot revolved.

That's not it, the final twist lifted the film a bit, but from the romance perspective, it remains unclear as the time gap influenced it to end in one way. It might be foolish to expect, but a sequel to built a story on that to solve the second romance track could work. Apart from one of the actors I mentioned earlier, the rest of the cast was excellent as well.

One of the major issues with the screenplay was the romance which is not deep enough to impact. Kong had perspective, but all the romance sentiments were held with Tom. The film focused on the task Kong has taken than Som's romance. Anyway, the film will work for most of the viewers, particularly for the youngsters. So I don't think it can be classified as a below average. For me, it hangs between 'average' and leaning mostly towards 'good'.

_7/10_