FEBRUARY 22 — Sometimes it pays to go against the grain and do something a wee bit different, even in the world of film distribution.

A bold little piece of counterprogramming can reap dividends when done right, even in the face of something as big as a new Star Wars movie, which was what happened when the people behind Senario XX decided to open on the same day against Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith back in 2005.

It made a cool RM3 million in Malaysian cinemas, which was quite a big number back then, when ticket prices were nowhere near as expensive as they are today.

When it comes to the Valentine’s Day season every February, it’s very normal to expect the usual deluge of rom-coms or romance movies playing either in cinemas or on your favourite streaming platforms, but it seems like this year there’s been a concerted effort to provide the kind of counterprogramming that, while still centred around relationships, are aimed towards a different kind of demographics, exploring genres outside of rom-coms and romance movies.

I managed to catch three of these the past two weeks, so read on and do check them out if you want something a little bit different this February.

Love Hurts

A retired killer movie with a romantic spin starring the lovable Ke Huy Quan and another Oscar winner in Ariana DeBose? Well, count me in then!

At least that’s what I felt when I first saw the trailer for this a few months back. The experience of actually watching the movie, on the big screen, is not that fantastic.

Quan plays Marvin, a successful real estate agent in suburban America who thought he had successfully left the world of gang violence behind a long time ago.

That all disappears once people from his old life start knocking at his door looking for Rose (played by DeBose), whom he was supposed to kill but secretly let go way back then because he was secretly in love with her.

And so begins a series of battles between Marvin and the many gangsters sent out to find Rose’s whereabouts, which is basically your standard fight flick plot.

Unfortunately, the film’s fight scenes, despite it being directed by a fight coordinator with credits that include some John Wick films, The Fall Guy and Violent Night, are totally unremarkable, just your standard Hollywood fight scenes.

And when even the chemistry between the leads is non-existent, then the movie’s in real trouble. It’s not a bad movie, because the technical merits are sound, but it just doesn’t work and is sadly unsuccessful in anything it tries to become.

It fails as a fight flick, and also fails as a romance, which tragically makes this a failure to launch.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.