Writer: Ezekiel Lee Zhiang Yang

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Watch this if you liked: “Evolusi KL Drift”, “Gangster”, “KL Menjerit”, “Impak Maksima”

Talky and untimely, "Evolusi KL Drift 2" would best be noted for the fine motor chick performance of franchise newcomer Scha Al-Yahya and some respectable cinematic improvement since the 2008 original in terms of realistic car action. However, great lapses in story logic and an uninspired script consisting of unconvincing, laughable romance and ridiculous character judgment make this "Gerak Khas" version of "Tokyo Drift" as long and uneven as Fasha Sandha's dreadlocks in the first movie.

We can at least be glad that they totalled enough respectable cars to make this a worthy picture, what with the RM 2.5 million they invested, according to accomplished industry veteran and production advisor Yusof Haslam at the film's premiere. The regrettable thing is that his son Syamsul, directing and starring at the same time, still can't put forward a consistent story with credible characters no matter how many cars he can burn. The impressive list of cars deployed in this film include a Nissan 350z, Nissan Skyline R34, Toyota Supra MkIV, Mazda RX7 FD3S, Nissan Silvia S13, Nissan Silvia S14 and a BMW e39 5 series. Too bad he didn't surround the motors with the right men. Notably, he has also made no acting improvement on his two-tone face of stone since the first movie, relegating him to the likes of those filmmakers we rather have behind the camera than in front of it.

Discarding the more mundane aspects of this actioner, this effort will also go down for the bizarre performances of its supporting actors. The muscular return of baddie Aaron Aziz and the introduction of his baddie sidekick Shaheizy Sam are notable roles with something to offer. They speak Cantonese and also Malay with (intended) Chinese accents, which is surprisingly entertaining, especially with some truly exaggerated badass lines. Shaheizy ought to be singled out for the most astonishing actor award at next year's Malaysian Film Festival! Farid Kamil, who's going to be busy promoting his own product "V3: Samsang Jalanan" soon, also reprises his role from the first movie and returns as the self-pitying disabled drifter while a very tanned Remy Ishak plays a generic cop to make up the numbers.

Syamsul Yusof still has a long way to go. He has a horror coming soon in "Khurafat" but we'll have to wait and see if racing movies will still command a place in the movie circuit. If there are more to come, they should sign Scha again on the back of this very credible performance.

Cinema Online, 15 March 2010