Close-ups of teenage entertainment personalities such as Elanne Kong, Janice Man (film debuting model), Siu Fei, and Race Wong dominate the screen in See You in You Tube, a film which will satisfy the cravings of obsessed fans or any avid follower of the work of these particular celebrities. Produced by Oxide, the elder of the Pang brothers (The Eye), the film contains elements common to many teen movies – boy/girl crushes, supernatural beings and fighting.

The film’s story revolves around two high-school best friends, Ling (Elanne Kong) and Janice (Janice Man), competing for the attention of the same boy, Him (Him Law). Him, living with his bored and perverted cousin (Sam Wong) in money-hungry circumstances, plans to make some cash by offering film lessons. Unsurprisingly, Janice and Ling both enrol in his course and ferociously contend for his attention.

Him, however, decides to use the girls’ competitive nature to his advantage, involving them in a game show he secretly plans to film and sell. (This is the only stage of the movie in which an actual reference to the web phenomenon YouTube is made – the cousins load the video onto YouTube, a production company comes across it and pays for the rights to it.) Also at this stage the story declines in quality – the girls (reconciled after a freaky experience in which Janice becomes possessed) find out about the YouTube upload and plan revenge by forcing Him and his cousin to compete in a life-risking race, the end of which reveals the real, unexpected and slightly disappointing reason behind the cousins’ need for money.

The inventive and often perilous games the cousins set up are the highlights of the movie – such as singing Happy Birthday at the funeral of a Triad ‘Big Brother’, faking a robbery with a toy gun, and stealing food from patrons in a food court. However, there were also scenes in which I didn’t know whether to laugh or frown – surely Tommy (Tommy Yuen) getting objects, even if they were only oranges, thrown at him by his father is a serious issue? Also, it’s probably best to go to the movie with some knowledge of Hong Kong celebrities – I didn’t recognize the face of the CEO of White Flower Oil and was left po-faced as the crowd roared in laughter when he appeared on screen.

Although See You in You Tube is not the most gripping movie that you will ever sit through, There are some great moments of laugh-out-loud laughter, nail-biting tension and even the welling of tears.

Emily Cheng