This is the very concept local Chinese film “I’m Not Gangster” puts under the microscope as a matter of experiment through the life of its unassuming protagonist Ah Loong.
Directed by Vince Chong, a member of Dissy, a popular Malaysian YouTube channel and content creator group known for viral, humorous videos, “I’m Not Gangster” asks a simple question: if you’re presented with the chance to become rich and powerful but through ill-gotten means, would you take it?
Released in conjunction with Chinese New Year, this is Dissy’s second feature length film, after last year’s “Close Your Kopitiam”. And as with all of Dissy’s contents, “I’m Not Gangster” comes galloping with its own social commentary and parody of society today.
“I’m Not Gangster” follows Ah Loong, an unremarkable convenience store worker who stumbles upon the dying boss of the Yi Qi crime syndicate. With a cryptic stick and password handed to him in his final moments, Ah Loong is reluctantly thrust into the leadership of the criminal underworld.
Having spent his life being largely overlooked, he seizes the chance to rewrite his fate. Armed with little more than common sense, he begins running the gang – and to everyone’s surprise, his unconventional methods work.
But as profits rise, so do internal power struggles, police scrutiny, and rival sabotage, pulling Ah Loong deeper into a life he once never imagined.
Narratively, “I’m Not Gangster” holds its own if you are looking for pure fun, sharp comedic beats, and a dash of commentary.
Ah Loong has a choice: he can refuse the leadership of the Yi Qi society, but with little else going right in his life, it is easy to see why he gravitates towards the criminal underworld.
The film shows how effortlessly one can slip into the lifestyle of gangsterism once accustomed to its perks. Ah Loong, once a timid salaryman, evolves into an innovative yet cold mafia leader – a transformation that feels like a defiant rejection of everything society once told him he was.
As far as parody goes, “I’m Not Gangster” is packed with it. The opening scene alone takes a cheeky jab at the censorship board.
A tongue-in-cheek fight between two gangs is halted just as they are about to strike by two figures who appear in the sky. They turn out to be a censorship officer and the film’s director, casually debating the use of weapons. In the blink of an eye, the sharp tools transform into soft toys and pillows, and the fight resumes – much to the officer’s delight.
Beyond the laughs, the film slips in sharp commentary on moneylenders’ harsh tactics. Instead of red paint and threats, Ah Loong opts for passive-aggressive guilt trips, even using a debtor’s child to pressure repayment.
The film’s central idea reaches its climax in a final act that delivers a major twist. An event upends everything you thought you understood about the story and may even provoke indignation – and that is precisely the point.
As lies and misunderstandings close in, Ah Loong faces a final choice: continue living under a stolen identity, or risk everything to fight back.
In the end, “I’m Not Gangster” leaves audiences with a disquieting truth: the line between victim and villain is often thinner than one thinks.
Ah Loong’s journey is entertaining, yes, but it is also a cautionary tale about the quiet, incremental choices that shape who one becomes.
As of press time, ‘I’m Not Gangster’ is screening in cinemas nationwide.