[1] It was one of the five 2022 Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese New Year films, including Reunion Dinner (Singapore), Nasi Lemak 1.0, Kongsi Raya and Small Town Heroes (Malaysia).

The film is set in a theoretical future where, due to the declining birth rate in Singapore, there are not enough males to fulfil the National Service manpower requirements.

Neo said that Singaporeans are fortunate to live in a relatively safe and stable world, but wanted to know what happens should the population of young people drop to levels below what is required for defence given the falling birth rate each year.

[1][5][6] The film is sponsored by companies like Holistic Way, Foodpanda, CARRO Group, Nippon Paint, Ogawa, Seng Choon, New York Skin Solutions, and Livingcare.

The cast was unveiled in October that year, with some prominent faces including Apple Chan, ex-Night Owl Cinematics talent Samantha Tan, founder/content creator of Double Up 欢迎光玲 (known for their viral Chinese comedy skits) Charlene Huang Xiang Lin, voice actress and martial arts content creator Kelly Kimberly Cheong, Miss Vasantham finalist Eswari Gunasagar, Farah Farook, Xixi Lim, Mediacorp artistes Ke Le and Glenn Yong among others.

[9] An uproar ensued over one of the characters named "Amanda Man" by netizens raising concerns over offence potentially caused to the transgender community and perpetuating misconceptions, coming after actress Kelly Kimberly Cheong posted a picture of herself during the film's lensing ceremony.

[19] Douglas Tseng from 8 Days gave it 1/5 stars, describing Jack Neo's directing and storytelling as "tone deaf", and full of pervasive product placements.

Utomo also pointed out that the scriptwriters writing the film had no idea of "what it's like being woman", saying that the dialogue and plot appeared condescending even as it avoided objectifying women.

[22] Matthaeus Choo from Sinema.SG commented that though Jack Neo has previous movie successes by bringing to life emotions shared by Singaporeans, the film appeared to be disconnected from reality.

Choo added that while Ah Boys to Men was able to scrape by as the characters are stand-ins for people being encountered in real life, the movie does not have that link, criticising the stereotypes that underpin the show.

[25] In response to these criticisms, Ah Boys to Men actor Tosh Zhang slammed those hating the film on Facebook, alluding to the silent majority who watched the movie and defending the cast, congratulating them for their effort.

Plans for a sequel called Ah Girls Go Army Part 2 were announced on 7 February 2022,[32] with the release date tentatively set for June 2022.