Synopsis: Ka Fu (Fong – aka Chan) is born into a working-class family. He is happy since he has a very loving family. Natalie (Sit) grows up in a very affluent family. Her parents want her to have the best and thus have lined up a rich education for her. However, Natalie is not happy. She finds no love from her parents and they are often away on business trips. Ka Fu and Natalie are from two different worlds. They are not related in any way, but fate throws them together. Natalie accidentally falls pregnant. Ka Fu's parents are so furious because they find their son following in their footsteps. They do not want Ka Fu to regret when he gets older. However, they are finally moved by the love of the young pair. (107 Mins)

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Views: To be honest, 2 Young sat unwatched in my DVD collection for over 12 years. Even though I knew the cast and crew involved in it, I just never had any urge to watch a teen-drama from Hong Kong as soppy looking as this did. The main focus of 2 Young is on the forbidden teenage romance of Chan and Sit, along with the problems they bring their parents as they start the journey of becoming parents and soon learn the struggles of family life. It's a fairly simple tale that happens quite a lot in most of our lives (to some degree), so as one of the first reviews in my collection I finally had to dust it off and give it a watch. And well – I only wish I had done so sooner! Celebrated director Derek Yee (Shinjuku Incident) delivers yet another a beautiful film that hits hard in many departments. From the great acting of its amazing cast to the delivery of emotion, and from the sprinkles of light-hearted comedy to being able to capture many moments of realism – I have to admit that 2 Young had me crying no less than 3 times during its running time!

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As the son of my all-time hero and the legend that is Jackie Chan, the young Jaycee Chan sure had some big shoes to fill in order to show that he could hold-his-own when it came to having a film career. His début was, of course, in the disappointing (although fun) Twins Effect 2, but with 2 Young we really get to see what he is capable of and, to be honest, I think Jaycee nails it. His cuteness and charm play well alongside Fiona Sit as his teen love interest, and both do a great job in such a drama-heavy story. This was the feature film debut for Sit Hoi Kei who obviously made enough of a splash to keep her career going, having since starred in movies such as Love Undercover 3, Simply Actors, Vugaria, Golden Chickeness, 12 Golden Ducks, and more. The same can be said for Mr. Chan, who made one hell of a splash in Benny Chan's awesome action flick, Invisible Target, just a couple of years later. Since then, Chan Cho Ming has went on to star in (and impress) a number of great titles such as The Drummer, Shinjuku Incident, Tracing Shadow, Mulan, 1911, Double Trouble, Monk Comes Down The Mountain, and Railroad Tigers – once again, starring alongside his legendary father. Of course, Derek Yee wasn't just going to risk this whole production on a couple of new-comers and managed to gather a top cast to work with them in the shape of the amazing Eric Tsang and Teresa Mo who play Chan's parents. At this stage of the game, Tsang had been in the business for over 30 years already, starring in a host of amazing titles from the Shaw Brothers classic 14 Amazons through to the Infernal Affairs Trilogy, leading up to this. I've always been a huge fan of Eric's and he certainly doesn't disappoint here, delivering some great dramatic moments and well as some laughs. The wonderful Teresa Mo Sun Kwan, who made her debut in the late 1970's but really exploded onto the film scene in the 90s, does a fantastic job as Jaycee's mum and went onto bag herself the award for Best Supporting Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards that year. The great Anthony Wong appears as Fiona's strict father – playing a pretty straight-laced role in only 1 of his 8 roles that year, which included the super-fun Stephen Fung directed House Of Fury and Andrew Lau directed Initial D with Jay Chou. His wife is played by the lovely Candice Yu, a starlet who launched her film career in the mid-70s with titles such as Let's Rock, Kung Fu Master Named Drunk Cat, Writing Kung Fu, as well as Shaw Brothers classics Legend Of The Bat and Death Duel where she would co-star alongside her 2 Young director, Derek Yee Tung Sing...

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Regular face of many Hong Kong films, Shiu Hung Hui, co-stars as a butler for Sit's family and the ever-popular Lam Suet gets a fun cameo as the headmaster of a school. Jamie Luk pops up for a bit and producer Henry Fong plays a fun role as shop owner who employs Jaycee to deliver gas bottles on a bike. The wonderful Chin Kar Lok also co-stars and doubles-up as the action-choreographer of the film, but there really isn't too much going on in that department that leaves a lasting impression. A host of other recognisable faces from Hong Kong cinema help fill-out 2 Young, but they never distract from what the 2 new stars have to offer. As an actor, Derek Yee most certainly impressed over the years from his beginnings in the late 1970s in titles such as Lady Exterminator, Death Duel, The Sentimental Swordsman, Legend Of The Bat, and much more – but as a director, Yee has shown the world that he can deliver some of the most amazing pieces of Hong Kong cinema from his directorial debut of The Lunatics in 1986 through to People's Hero with Ti Lung, Full Throttle with Andy Lau, Shinjuku Incident with Jackie Chan, and Sword Master with Kenny Lin, as well as many other great titles including this one.

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Perhaps as a parent in my 40's with teenage kids of my own, I can relate to 2 Young a little more than I would have upon its initial release, and with that I definitely fell in love with the film. But I also know for sure that it never bored me or lost my attention for one second, and these days that's a rare thing!

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Overall: A new favourite of mine with an amazing cast, 2 Young delivers the right amount of emotion without any of the cheese most Hollywood films of this genre delivers!

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DVD Extras: Making of Documentary, Promotional Footage, Deleted Scenes, Outtakes, Trailer, Photo Gallery, Directors Biography & Filmography