Ever tried arm-wrestling with a woman? Apparently, it's quite the thing among some Japanese women. And thanks to Han Yew Kwang, we now have a movie about it. (Arm wrestling, not Japanese women)
So is "Unarmed Combat" just about arm-wrestling?
- Nope.
Left foreground: Johnny Ng (the teacher in "I Not Stupid 2", and Catherine Sng (the 'kay poh' neighbour from "Growing Up")
It's got a bit more depth than that. It's about relationships, some stranger than others. It's about changing aspects of yourself to win the love of another. It's about liberation. And yes, there will be girl-on-girl action - in the arm wrestling sense, of course!
 The film's director, Han Yew Kwang, is unabashedly inspired by other great film-makers/comedians like Stephen Chow and movies by the Hui brothers in the '80s. And it shows. A large portion of Unarmed Combat takes place in an "old-school" laundry, with an inspired cast that brings the set to life. You can almost smell the warm scent of freshly-ironed shirts amidst their comic antics.
Right: Han Yew Kwang
But be warned: Unarmed Combat straddles the spectrum between "Eric Khoo" darkness and "Jack Neo" slapstick styles. The laugh-out loud moments are definitely there to be enjoyed, but some lengthy shots along with the non-linear progression (the story moves from present, to past, to present... or something like that) could make the film seem excessively long for less patient audiences. The original version of "Unarmed Combat" was a short film, that could actually be more palatable to mainstream audiences.
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