The Lion Men () is a Singapore action comedy film directed by Jack Neo and starring Tosh Zhang, Wang Weiliang, Eva Cheng, Noah Yap, Charlie Goh, Maxi Lim and Chen Tianwen. The main plot revolves around three lion dance troupes pitting themselves against one another.
Plot
Shi Shen (Tosh Zhang) is the top performer in the Tiger Crane Lion Dance Association, but feels restricted by Master He's (Chen Tianwen) traditional mindset. He decides to take a group of disciples and forms his own lion dance troupe known as Storm Riders, which fuses hip hop and rock with lion dance movements.
A major Lion Dance Competition is coming up and Mikey (Wang Weiliang) is groomed to be Shi Shen's successor. However, he has a huge fear of heights! The situation worsens when both Shi Shen and Mikey fall for Master He's daughter named He Xiao Yu (Eva Cheng).
Cast
Tosh Zhang as Shi Shen/Supreme
Wang Weiliang as Mikey
Eva Cheng as He Xiao Yu, Master He's daughter
Noah Yap as Zhang Bu Da
Charlie Goh as Ah Qiang
Maxi Lim as Babyface
Chen Tianwen as Master He
Zhang Xinxiang
Production
Development of this film was first announced in June 2013 as an untitled project hailed as the "breakthrough action movie" of director Jack Neo. In August 2013, the film's title was revealed during its opening ceremony, with Neo adding that he had been thinking of such a film premise for "quite some time ago". The budget of the film is estimated to be around $4 million. To prepare for the film, the stars had to undergo real life lion dancing training sessions.
Release
The film was released on 30 January 2014, during the Chinese New Year's Eve.