'Ah Girls Go Army' trailer out, Jack Neo set to earn big when movie in cinemas on CNY Feb. 1, 2022

Director Jack Neo looks set to rake in millions of dollars at the box office this Chinese New Year 2022 season with his latest movie, Ah Girls Go Army, scheduled to be released in cinemas island-wide on Feb. 1, 2022.

The movie’s trailer was released on Jan. 16.

Premise of latest movie

The two-and-a-half-minute trailer starts off predictably enough.

A po-faced, officious-looking woman, who looks suspiciously like a politician, says in a room that suspiciously resembles parliament, that women are called upon to serve national service as a result of a lack of manpower due to a declining birth rate.

And from this premise, a whole new Jack Neo movie is born to carry on the Ah Boys To Men franchise, which started almost 10 years ago when the first movie came out in November 2012.

Record production time

Ah Girls Go Army is the fifth film in the Ah Boys To Men franchise, all of which were directed by Neo.

The latest take on women serving NS essentially imagines what it is like when they have to take up arms and train to protect the country.

The movie effectively went from production to the big screen in just 2.5 months.

The Ah Boys To Men franchise has so far grossed over S$26.8 million in theatres, making it one of the most lucrative movie series in Singapore’s history.

What’s in trailer?

If you want to find out what is in the trailer, but do not want to subject yourself to it, here is a quick rundown of the scenes included.

1. Po-faced woman who looks like a politician providing the premise of the movie

If the premise cannot be articulated in one line, it is not a Jack Neo movie.

2. Some CGI/ special effects that look unrealistic

Much boom, so flare.

3. The army regulars with the chiselled jawline and delicate facial features

Their careers in showbiz look secure.

4. Scenes that could have been in Ah Boys To Men

But now with women. And adhere to HDB’s Ethnic Integration Policy.

5. Underwear on railings

Life of man, and woman, is clearly solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short, because underwear is always hung anywhere.

6. Fancy nails

This is also one of the mandatory scenes that has to be included in Ah Girls Go Army because no discussion about women serving NS can be complete without mentioning what happens to fancy nails.

7. Shouting scenes

If you ever do carry out textual analysis of contemporary Singapore movies, you’d find that characters shouting can take up as much as 70 per cent of a movie’s dialogue. For no apparent reason whatsoever. Whatever that can be said will somehow end up being shouted.

8. Women doing push-ups

Another mandatory scene featuring women in NS.

9. Erotic tension

One of the greatest challenges to having men and women in NS at the same time, with men in a position of authority: Hooking up.

10. Camouflage is not cosmetics

No discussion about women serving NS can be complete without mentioning what happens to having to wear yucky, pore-clogging camo cream.

11. The Character Formerly Known As Amanda Man

Will The Character Formerly Known As Amanda Man be sidelined to avoid controversy? How much screen time will she have? The Ah Girls Go Army movie has assured its place in film and society intersectionality studies modules at all good local universities.

12. Shower scene

Because showering together = Camaraderie.

12. Sabo Queen

NS is about identifying the problematic person.

12. Cat fight

As with shouting in local movies, a scene with many people getting involved in an altercation is almost mandatory. If a movie doesn’t have a group of people fighting, it is not a local movie.

13. Crying in rain

There are many shorthands in film-making. If a character has blood coming out of the nose, it is 99.9 per cent of the time brain cancer or brain tumour. If the rain washes away the tears of a character, the character will emerge stronger.

All media via Ah Girls Go Army