What does Chongqing hotpot have in common with heroes? This common hot dish, favored by gourmets nationwide, shares impressive spirit with heroes. They're both strong, in flavor and in character, and sometimes, undeniably, they can bring people to tears.

Chongqing Hot Pot, the latest film by director and scriptwriter Yang Qing, is about three heroes and one heroine who make literally bloody efforts to save a bleak hotpot business.

It may sound crazy, but that's the signature style of Yang, who made his film debut in 2009 with the crime comedy One Night in Supermarket, infusing dynamite energy into everyday life and creating stories that are dark yet exciting, hilarious yet touching.

The new film starts with an intriguing bank robbery. Four robbers wearing masks of the famous four figures from the classic story Journey to the West rob a bank in Chongqing with knives and guns.

However, their getaway driver waiting outside accidentally gives up their secret to a traffic policeman, so the four are trapped in the bank and will have to find another way out. Then when they finally enter the vault, one of them discovers a big hole in the floor.

Then follows one of the most impressive scenes in the film, moving along the long and winding air-raid shelters, which were built during World War II when Chongqing was the temporary capital of the Republic of China (1912-49).

The hotpot restaurant the four heroes want to protect is located within one of these air-raid shelters. Former schoolmates Liu Bo (Chen Kun), Xu Dong (Qin Hao) and Wang Pingchuan (Yu Entai) opened the restaurant together. But the business is not doing well, so the three decide to expand it, so they can then sell it as a larger restaurant. Accidentally, their construction leads directly to the bank.

The major story revolves around how the three go to negotiate with Yu Xiaohui (Bai Baihe), their schoolmate and a staff member in the bank, to resolve their mess, when they then cross paths with the four robbers.

Meanwhile, the film also provides parallel threads - such as family issues, love stories and gangster battles - that develop simultaneously and at some points interweave with the major story to create surprises.

A scene from Chongqing Hot Pot Photos: CFP

Discontinuous tension

Plot development, however, is slow and weak, and it can barely continue the tension created in the beginning of the film. The love story that happens with the old schoolmates may add some soft and romantic moments to this dark film, but when they are used to create an emotional and combative climax near the end, it turns out very unconvincing.

Compared to One Night in Supermarket, whose scenes all happen in a small supermarket, Yang seems to aim higher with Chongqing Hot Pot to depict a broader view of society.

For instance, he spends much time satirizing an unhappy marriage and sublimating a family bond between a mentally ill old man and his grandson. But those parts don't form a film as compact as One Night in Supermarket.

On the bright side, the new film still inherits Yang's interest in addressing serious topics in a humorous way, such as using pranks and making fun of dialects.

The cast is also well-chosen, as the four heroes have implanted the everyman mind-set in the way they speak and act.

The score is also remarkably good, made by Golden Melody Award-winner Peng Fei and popular composer Zhao Yingjun, who also created theme songs for hit films such as Lost in Hong Kong, Surprise and Detective Chinatown.

A series of fight scenes in Chongqing Hot Pot are accompanied by elegant string compositions, creating an interesting compromise between violence and serenity and reminding people of the absurd action sequences from Kingsman: The Secret Service as well as Quentin Tarantino's films.

A poster for the film

Everyone's a critic

GT: How did you like the story line?

Sun Tiantian, 27

"It's just fine. I find it's less interesting than One Night in Supermarket. I like its mysterious beginning, but I hate its sentimental end."

GT: What was the most impressive scene?

Hu Bei, 29

"I love the scenes of Liu Bo and his grandfather very much. They share a naughty spirit, and they seem like soul mates. The scenes are hilarious and touching."

GT: Who is the best actor/actress in the film?

Zhao Xiaoying, 27

"I think Qin Hao is the best actor; he just looks like whatever he acts, and this time he is a henpecked husband, but meanwhile a trustworthy friend. Yu Entai and Chen Kun also did excellent job in their roles."