I’m going to describe the Chinese fantasy teen movie “Underachiever” today. Beware of spoilers. Several military personnel spy on a car as it races through the desert in the first scene. They are searching for something that the driver has. The case they were frantically looking for is empty, despite their best efforts to halt the man they were pursuing on their motorcycles. The man had discovered a rare black crystal in the desert, as seen in a flashback. He placed it inside his water bottle and buried it in the sand because he was aware that bad people were searching for it. The group’s leader is incensed, but even he is unsure of where he hid the treasures.
Zhang Tianci, the movie’s main character, is then introduced to us. He is a 22-year-old high school student who has taken the same course three times after failing it three times in a row. Since no other student has spent as much time at the school as Tianci, he is regarded as the most recognisable face there. Although Shangfei, his best buddy, is also the same, he has an advantage over Tianci because he has only failed twice. The pair is the class clown with the most losers. Tianci nods off and leaves his seat in one of the classes. Before disciplining him, the teacher calls him an invertebrate, to everyone’s amusement.
He is regularly teased and bullied by his peers, yet he never loses faith that one day he will succeed in passing the university entrance exam. His charming classmate Xiaoyan is the source of his inspiration. Every day, she rewards him with candy to motivate him to perform better. She is also one of the few people who doesn’t laugh when jokes about him are told. She attracts a lot of guys because of her nature, including Liu, Tianci’s biggest bully. Because of his academic and athletic prowess, he believes that he is superior to everyone else, especially Tianci. Every chance he gets, he approaches Xiaoyan, but she never shows the slightest interest in him.
However, it appears that she solely gives the sweets to Tianci and Shangfei, which enrages him. He bullies Tianci, calling him an orphan, and tells him to put the books away even though he is studying as a way to vent his stress. Before things get out of hand, Shangfei steps in to help his friend by removing him. Tianci arrives home at night to an empty house, and we learn that he is alone. His reliance on government assistance programmes makes his situation even more challenging. He studies till the wee hours of the morning, determined to ace the test this time, but the prospect of failing never leaves his mind. He then proceeds to a nearby desert where he collects trash and sells it for some extra cash.
Fortunately, he discovers the water bottle with the crystal inside that was buried. He encounters Liu and Xiaoyan while returning home. As usual, Liu makes fun of him while shaking the trash bag. Xiaoyan picks up the bottle when it drops to give it to Tianci. A surveillance camera captures her face holding the water bottle at this precise time. The military force that was searching for the bottle views the video in another location and decides to attack Liu and Xiaoyan as they are the only people in it who are visible. Tianci opens the bottle when she gets home and discovers the valuable black crystal within. He keeps the bottle by his bed and doesn’t give it any thought before going to sleep. He is unaware that the crystal is using its magic to provide him exceptional abilities that he is not prepared for.
The following morning, Xiaoyan is being bothered by some thugs. Shangfei and Tianci notice this as they are travelling to school. Tianci is unable to leave Shangfei alone with the goons despite her desire to flee. He stops the gang from bothering her, but in exchange, the gang beats him up. They rip apart his notebooks and compel him to chew a page. Tianci’s face is covered in bruises and cuts by the time they are finished. The instructor is informed about the incident at school, but rather than taking action against the goons, he accuses Tianci of inciting trouble. When Xiaoyan and Shangfei support Tianci, the teacher simply dismisses the situation and requests that they do the same.
As Tianci enters the classroom and is slapped in the face with a duster, more issues arise. He has offended Liu by neglecting to do his whiteboard cleaning. To his chagrin, Xiaoyan intervenes on Tianci’s behalf and cleans the board. Tianci unintentionally knocks his phone to the ground while giving a lecture, upsetting everyone. He is asked to come to the front and do an algebra problem by the teacher, who has had enough of his conduct. He appears to comprehend the issue, which astounded Tianci. In front of the class, he successfully solves it, surprising everyone. Liu tries to cast doubt on his intelligence by claiming that the approach he employed was incorrect, but the teacher counters that it was simply too complicated.
Tianci suddenly recalls that the material he was required to consume in the morning contained comparable mathematical issues. After he consumes a piece of paper with some kind of information on it, he puts two and two together and realises he might have acquired a superpower of remembering. He explains the revelation to Shangfei after school, but Shangfei doesn’t trust him. As opposed to that, he assumes Tianci must have examined the issue and forgotten about it. He makes Tianci chew a piece of paper while using all the fighting methods he has been studying in karate class, though, as a test to see if he is speaking the truth. Tianci runs into the same morning’s assailants on his way home.
The man with the comb who combs his hair both before and after each battle is the commander. He challenges Tianci to face them, not realising that Tianci is an expert fighter who can fight like Bruce Lee. With his exceptional techniques, Tianci defeats all of them to end the fight in under a minute. The comb man makes a promise to never bother him again. The following day in class, Liu again tosses a duster at him, but Tianci catches it this time without even looking. Shangfei at last thinks he might has abilities. He gets a great idea from this. The basketball team from their school is competing against the team from their rival school. As a result, he forces Tianci to consume basketball tip and trick book pages.
The contest is about to start in the evening. Nevertheless, Liu, who serves as the team’s captain, refuses to accept Tianci. Shangfei urges Liu to allow Tianci play with them despite the fact that Tianci is a brilliant player and that Liu would rather give up his place. In addition, no one has shoes in Tianci’s size, and his shoe is old. As soon as the game starts, their team starts to lose. They show themselves to be feeble when up against the giants of the opposing school. They haven’t scored a single basket and are down by 26 points at the end of the first half. Xiaoyan gives Tianci a pair of shoes from her brother, who has the same shoe size as him, before halftime. Since nobody on the team performed well, Liu is upset. He makes fun of his teammates, which sparks conflict among them.
Liu is replaced by Tianci by the teacher as a form of discipline. Liu initially doesn’t care because they are already losing the game. But suddenly, to everyone’s surprise, Tianci starts making basket after basket. He keeps up with the opposition’s score over time and makes things difficult for them. In order for the squad to lose the game and for Tianci to not receive the praise he desires, Liu has his best friend play poorly. Yet Tianci succeeds in making a challenging basket and continues to astound everyone. He is the talk of the school following the game. Liu, who is accustomed to being the greatest at everything, is incensed that Tianci is vying for his kingdom.
His pal admits that he overheard Tianci and Shangfei discussing some odd topic that involved papers. The pair chooses to dig into the situation after realising something is amiss. The next day, Tianci gives Xiaoyan his shoes back and thanks her for always being there for him. Even though he was viewed as a loser, she had always had faith in him. Tianci believes she is to blame for his success now that he is one of the well-liked people. Together as they make their way home, they decide to start dating. They can be seen relaxing by the water, singing together, and falling in love in the scene that follows. A spiteful Liu gives a female the laxative-laced drink to bring to Tianci.
His plot to embarrass him in front of Xiaoyan is foiled when the girl gives the teacher the drink instead of him. During that particular lecture, the teacher engages in some dubious behaviour, but the students simply laugh it off. As the days go by, Tianci consumes more papers rather than studying. Yet he quickly realises that the paper memory is taking up space in his mind and that he is starting to forget things that actually happen. He might eventually lose memory of who he is if he keeps using the magical crystal’s power. He worries that Xiaoyan might no longer want to be with him if he reverts to being the loser, though. That afternoon, the group’s leader discovers the combmen while searching for the crystal.
He challenges the group to reveal Liuand Xiaoyan’s location. After school, Xiaoyan constantly declines to go for a walk with Liu, but he insisted. They are suddenly attacked from behind and taken to the gang’s lair. They are questioned about the crystal, which, of course, they are unaware of. But, when the guys describe the gem to them, Liu understands that Tianci must possess it. He introduces himself and provides his phone number. Tianci tells Shangfei about his recent memory issues in another location. He admits he no longer wants to use the crystal’s power. Although Shangfei is disappointed because he has grown to enjoy the new Tianci, he can respect his choice.
They receive a call from the kidnappers at precisely that moment, threatening Tianci with death unless he brings the crystal to the hideout. Tianci is aware that it is unlikely they will spare the gang even after he gives them what they want. In order to teach the gang a lesson, he eats a number of papers with various fighting techniques. He also gives Shangfei a purple gift box to present to Sub Xiaoyan in case he doesn’t return from the assignment before departing. The next shot shows him forcing his way into the hideout and giving them the bottle. The leader, however, is enraged to discover it empty. Tianci begs him to let them go, and he fires at Liu and Xiaoyan in retaliation.
As Liu flees in fear, a firefight results. He is shot in the leg and hides with Xiaoyan behind a stack of crates. Against Tianci, the enemy is able to capture Xiaoyan and holds her captive. Tianci responds by stabbing him in the abdomen, but only after a brief battle. The moment the screen goes black, the leader has total command of the circumstance. A few days later, Liu is boasting to his friends in the classroom about how, despite being shot, he still managed to rescue the day. Shangfei gives the gift box that Tianci gave him to Xiaoyan somewhere.
It includes the candy wrapper, the towel she used to assist Tianci during the basketball game, and numerous other small items that he collected from their time together. Just when we begin to lose hope that he survived, Tianci shows up in front of the two. A flashback reveals that despite being seriously hurt, he managed to kill the leader by pulling the knife from his abdomen. In the final scene, Tianci and Xiaoyan embrace before the trio departs while conversing happily. To support the channel, switch on the notification feature, subscribe for more videos like this, and leave a like.
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