NYAFF 2024 Review: Breaking and Re-Entering

While the NYAFF this year is littered with a ton of character dramas and generally unconventional narrative films, it’s not lacking in crowd-pleasing movies. One such is the Taiwanese heist film Breaking and Re-Entering, a movie I watched on a complete whim as I wanted to partake in another action movie. I had no real clue of what to expect and was ready to shut my mind off to take in some white-knuckle thrills.

Breaking and Re-Entering does deliver on that, though not without some caveats. Most of the drawbacks here are budgetary limitations, though an overload of exposition and a boiling-over of silliness in the finale does also hurt the film. Still, if you’re in the mood for an irreverent thriller that never forgets how silly its central premise is, you’ll find a lot to like here.

Breaking and Re-Entering
Director: Leo Wang
Release Date: February 8, 2024 (Taiwan), July 22, 2024 (NYAFF)
Country: Taiwan

The basic setup for Breaking and Re-Entering is that a group of thieves, headed by Chang Bo-chun (Chen Bo-lin), plan and successfully pull off a heist at one of Taiwan’s largest banks and are making their way to the drop-off point. On the way there, they intercept a radio call from the client who hired them stating he’s going to execute everyone once the money is handed over. He’s also planning on pinning the robbery on one of his employees, a woman named Shen Shu-Wen (Cecilia Choi). Oh, the client is also the owner of the bank, Chen Hai-jui (Wu Kang-ren).

While that sounds cut and dry, we quickly learn that Chang has a history with Shen. The two were previously dating and after a heist went bad for Chang, he took the fall for his team and was subsequently jailed for five years, ending his relationship with Shen and causing her to move on. Not wishing to bring her more harm, Chang plans a reverse heist where the team will return the money and, in the process, expose Chen for the corrupt owner he is.

It’s a bit convoluted, but the best aspect of Breaking and Re-Entering is that the movie moves incredibly fast. In a not-too-dissimilar fashion to a Stephen Chow comedy, this film moves rapid-fire through jokes, antics, action sequences, and character moments. At only 109 minutes in length, there isn’t much time to develop things further as a ton of exposition needs to be front-loaded to get the general plot in place. We learn about Chang’s team, how everyone stands together in brotherhood, and the unique traits they all have that make them work as a team. It’s a bit too much to really recap here and I can’t quite remember everyone’s names, but they also aren’t entirely important to the story.

© Wow Momentum Co. LTD

That’s the biggest drawback here. I don’t mind that Breaking and Re-Entering is the equivalent of a Hollywood popcorn flick as not every movie needs to have a deeper meaning. The issue is that most of the film doesn’t feel developed enough. The best example I can give is the character Wen-hao (JC Lin). His primary skill is being ridiculously adept at combat and he constantly takes his knife out to kill someone. It’s funny the first time you see it, but it’s the only real trait he has until the very end of the film. At that point, he makes a “sacrifice” that is played for laughs but doesn’t quite land.

Even the romance between Chang and Shen moves a bit too quickly, though I’m willing to forgive the pacing seeing as how the two leads work well together. Shen is shown to be fairly assertive and no-nonsense, even going so far as to kick a would-be sexual harasser in the balls, but then she immediately falls for Chang again despite having her heart broken. There’s no real tension here and while the couple isn’t kissing in their first scene together, you have no doubt in your mind that they will wind up together by the end. Shen also jumps into crime surprisingly fast for someone who worked her way into an executive position at a bank.

Still, a lot of this is offset by how campy Breaking and Re-Entering is. Special mention needs to go to Wu Kang-ren, who plays the part of a ludicrously spoiled rich kid well. His character was gifted the bank by his parents and has started to drive the business towards digital currency. It’s simultaneously a satire of crypto-bros and nouve riche with a dash of Taiwanese stereotypes about ABCs (American-born Chinese) thrown in. He’s not the most despicable villain you’ll see in a film, but he’s such a jackass that you just want to punch him in the face.

© Wow Momentum Co. LTD

The main vibe I got from Breaking and Re-Entering is that director Leo Wang has a big fan of the Ocean’s films, and that is 100% on the money. As the NYAFF website notes, Wang claims to have watched the Ocean’s films more times than any of us have had hot dinners. You get a sense of Soderbergh’s flair here what with the usage of split-screen, title cards, and juxtaposed tones. Breaking and Re-Entering is noticeably lighter, however, with the narrative never taking a turn into darkness or nihilism. I think that last part is simply because this movie is meant to be a feel-good thriller.

That follows over into the action, which never gets particularly violent or grotesque. A couple of people do die, but it’s played like a Looney Tunes skit where a knife bounces off a car door or someone gets smacked in the head with a fire extinguisher. Everything is framed pretty well and JC Lin, in particular, can certainly brawl, but I wouldn’t say you should expect to see something that rivals old-school Hong Kong action here. This film is more about keeping things flowing quickly rather than stopping to stage a massive brawl. Some of the really poor CG does hurt a few explosions, though.

As down as I might sound about Breaking and Re-Entering, I do want to emphasize that I did enjoy the movie. It’s rare for me to watch a film and not overanalyze the hell out of it, but I completely understand what Leo Wang was doing here. As a self-proclaimed “Hollywood Kid,” Wang just wanted to make a summer blockbuster that emulates the films he loves. Maybe this movie isn’t pulled off with the same polish as a Hollywood production, but it has fun performances and lots of goofy jokes all the same.

© Wow Momentum Co. LTD

Breaking and Re-Entering doesn’t redefine the heist movie and while the concept of a reverse heist is neat, you’re likely going to smile while watching this and then forget it immediately after. There’s nothing wrong with that, even if I do wish certain elements were given more time to breathe.