Novelist and businessman Sit Ho-Ching made his directorial debut in Keyboard Warriors <起底组>, a true-life story based on the 2014 Christmas Eve case in Hong Kong where a total of HK$15 million fell out of a G4S security van over a busy street in Wan Chai.
Among the witnesses coincidentally at the scene are Ang Ray (Yau Hawk-Sau) and Jay Kwan (Lam Yiu-Sing), two jobless internet nerds who plan to grab some of the money on the street, only to be stopped by an off-duty policewoman Nancy (Stephy Tang).
After the police concluded the case was more of an accident, Ang and Jay have different thoughts altogether. They soon recruited a motley team of anonymous internet buddies on Golden Forum and find out the truth using their respective tech-savvy expertise.
Meanwhile, Nancy has a dilemma of her own including having a tough time at her job as well as her rocky relationship with her younger sister Mandy (Grace Chan).
As a first-time director, Sit Ho-Ching does an adequate job blending social satire with comedy and drama that is both entertaining and surprisingly affecting at the same time.
Of course, the movie wouldn’t have worked if not for Stephy Tang’s engaging lead performance as Nancy. She pairs well with TVB actress Grace Chan, who made her feature-length acting debut in this movie. Both of them share terrific chemistry as two estranged sisters, which also happened to be one of the major factors that made this movie an above-average effort. Individually speaking, Grace Chan took me by surprise with her pitch-perfect role as the materialistic younger sister who likes to gamble and at one point, she’s even cursed in this movie. I’m glad she’s willing to take a bold risk to shed her good-girl image in favour of portraying such a role. This is also my first time admiring her performance here, compared to the one she used to act in many TVB dramas.
The rest of the supporting actors provide solid supports, particularly Yau Hawk-Sau and Lam Yiu-Sing as two internet nerds forming their own crime-fighting investigation team in the name of justice.
