"Energetic 21" starts as a street racing drama and shifts into a comedy about a mismatched couple who are only tangentially connected to the street racing. It finishes as a crime drama which begins with a dangerous go kart competition. This is a movie that does not seem to be able to decide which direction to go in. The go kart race seems like it was probably added because someone had an idea for some cool stunt work, even though it didn't advance the story. The finale, however, does deliver some of the energy that the opening promised.

Ho Wai-Han and Chin Yuet-Sang are funny as the mismatched couple, a large young woman who is aggressively seeking a boyfriend, and a small, comical garage mechanic who manages to substitute himself for his more handsome co-worker on a date. Lau Wan-Na is good as a sexy, spoiled rich girl, but her character never becomes more than a bystander to the main action of the story. Leslie Cheung and the other racers don't make much of an impression.

"Energetic 21" fails to meet even the modest expectations a viewer is likely to bring to a film of this genre, and the few comic scenes that come off well are not enough to save the film.