Where’s Officer Tuba? (1986) January 14, 2008
Posted by Cal in : Comedy, Supernatural, 1980s films , add a commentDirector: Phillip Chan; Ricky Lau Cast: Sammo Hung; Jacky Cheung; David Chiang, Joey Wong Territory: Hong Kong Production Company: D & B Films
Cowardly cop Tuba (Sammo Hung) is content to play in the police orchestra for a living and leave the real police work to others. Unfortunately, his unconventional looks and manner make him an ideal candidate for an undercover mission headed by “Rambo” Chow (David Chiang) to bring down an extortion ring. Chow is promptly killed in action, but not before harassing a promise out of Tuba that he will avenge his death and bring the gang to justice. Tuba reneges on the promise, which makes Chow’s mischievous spirit manifest itself to Tuba, and the ghost (which only Tuba can see or hear) makes a thorough nuisance of itself until he and his over-ambitious rookie roommate Cheung (Jacky Cheung) swing into action. Tuba also tries to woo supermarket manager Joanne (Joey Wong), who thinks he’s a pervert, and whose parents think he’s a deranged idiot.
Where’s Officer Tuba? is Hong Kong Cinema’s best-kept secret. Generally overlooked by Sammo’s fans in favour of more obviously action-packed fare like Eastern Condors or Pedicab Driver, it’s also overlooked by comedy fans put off by the thought of watching a “kung fu” movie. It is a comedy first and foremost, and despite the inclusion of some awesome action stars from both the 70’s and 80’s (Sammo Hung, Hwang Jang Lee, David Chiang, Yuen Wah and Chang Yi all in the same movie?!) it’s the humour that wins the day.
The film’s greatest strength is the excellent script from the late Barry Wong, who certainly could knock together something simple but enjoyable. Here, he comes up something that packs more into its 92-minute running time than you can credit on first viewing, and the humour is very well written. Take the pier scene, for example: Sammo is picked to meet the extortionists and drop off their ransom money. There follows a string of gags that all hit their target as Sammo deadpans through misunderstandings and knowing references to espionage thrillers. And this is all before any of the ghostly shenanigans kick off.
It’s surprising that the main event – David Chiang appearing only to Sammo and ruining his life by manipulating his actions and making him look like an idiot – doesn’t really start until about an hour into the movie, but when it does, it’s hilarious. Sammo refuses to help the ghost of Chow seek revenge, so he runs amok when Sammo visits his prospective parents-in-law. It’s a scene that should write itself, and it does to a large degree, but even on the umpteenth viewing I still find myself laughing out loud at it.
The climax, where Sammo and Jacky Cheung (in his first movie appearance, I believe) take down the bad guys (this time with the help of Chow’s spirit) is as good as any action movie from the 80’s, and the inclusion of Hwang Jang Lee means there’s some mean legwork on display. But there’s not enough of it to really make this a contender as an action movie, and it’s the laughs that are the most memorable.
There are a surprising amount of puns and Cantonese wordplay in this film which obviously don’t translate, but even a passing knowledge of the dialect will be enough for you to get a couple of the more childish jokes. I wish someone would do a proper release of this film with remastered subtitles as, if memory serves, the subtitles on the Universe DVD are identical to the original VHS “Chinese and English” release and are particularly poor. Along with the usual spelling mistakes, typos and grammatical problems, there are some strange translations - such as when two characters talk about someone being “successfully raped”, which is just plain odd. It also helps to have some knowledge of Chinese superstitions, as on first viewing I thought the ending was very Deus Ex Machina, only to find a particular method for dispelling ghosts is all part of Chinese folklore.
Where’s Officer Tuba? was remade in 1990 as Look Out, Officer with Stephen Chow, which seems a mouth-watering prospect but sadly it didn’t realise its potential. And it has to be mentioned that Where’s Officer Tuba? at times bears an uncanny resemblance to Wu Ma’s The Dead and the Deadly, which also starred Hung as a man possessed by the spirit of a dead man only he can see. But for my money, Where’s Officer Tuba? is by far the funniest and most enjoyable of Hong Kong’s “invisible man” comedies.
Police Story 2 (1988) December 26, 2007
Posted by Cal in : Comedy, Action, 1980s films , 8 commentsDirector: Jackie Chan Cast: Jackie Chan; Maggie Cheung; Bill Tung; Benny Lai Territory: Hong Kong Production Company: Golden Harvest; Golden Way
Following the events of Police Story, Chan Ka-Kui (Jackie Chan) is demoted and hauled over the coals by his superiors. The crime lord Chu Tao (Chor Yuen) has been released due to failing health and is once again making Ka-Kui’s life a misery by getting his lackeys to constantly harass his long-standing (and long-suffering) girlfriend May (Maggie Cheung). However, Ka-Kui faces a new threat in the form of a gang of blackmailers intent on blowing up most of Hong Kong.
Police Story 2 is probably my least favourite of Jackie Chan’s starring features from the eighties. The tone always seemed too dark for a Jackie Chan film and it had a tendency to be overly dramatic and not a little melodramatic. Certain scenes always bugged me – such as the scene in a shopping mall under threat from a bomb attack, which I’ve always thought seemed heavy-handed and the people’s reactions unrealistic (and that attempt at tension with the bouncing ball is horrible passé). What I’ve always liked in Jackie’s films is the lightness and good-natured humour as well as all the physical stuff, which is why I’ve given it a miss for a few years. Watching it again reveals that the film does have some great comedy moments which I’d completely forgotten about, and I was surprises how much I enjoyed it.
Like the first film, a lot of the comedy is provided by Maggie Cheung in the role of May, and she still bears the scars of Police Story 2 to this day thanks to a gag with some toppling metal frames going wrong. It’s hard to imagine her taking such a role now, either from a comedic or physical angle, but she did have quite a flair and watching something like this does remind you of the fact. You’ve got to love the scene where she furiously shouts at Ka-Kui into the showers at the Police Station following their aborted holiday to Bali. She is oblivious to the embarrassed nakedness of the cops (and Bill Tung having a private moment in the toilet stalls) to rip into Ka-Kui, and then has another unfortunate incident with her scooter outside. Other comic moments involve Jackie going undercover wearing a fake moustache and glasses to get a lead on the explosives and the usual misunderstandings with his superiors Raymond (Lam Gwok-Hung) and the fantastic Bill Tung. Sadly, Mars, though present, has a much reduced role in this, which is a shame as he always had good comic scenes when sharing the screen with Jackie.
Regular member of Jackie’s stunt-team, Benny Lai comes out of the shadows to play the role of a deaf-mute explosives expert. Although he took one of the pirate roles in Project A Part II, he was usually only a background player in Jackie’s films and usually heavily in disguise. In this he really gets a chance to shine and his physical feats are great. He also apparently spent an inordinate amount of time preparing for the role and consulted a specialist to learn to use sign language, and I have to admit I thought he was for real until I saw him in other roles.
Police Story II does have a tendency towards incoherence and lack of direction, but no more than other films from the era. For example, the return of veteran director Chor Yuen in the role of Chu Tao turns out to be more a red herring than a genuine plot point. It’s as if the filmmakers originally intended to have him being the main bad guy again but changed their minds about a third of the way through. More of a presence is Charlie Cho as Chu Tao’s sleazy PA, John Koo. If you remember, at the end of the first film Ka-Kui punches him in the face and breaks his glasses. This gag obviously proved popular, as in every scene in which he appears in this sequel results in the same result. As a running joke, I suppose it works but on repeated viewings it gets a little tiresome.
However, nothing leaves such a bad taste in the mouth as the disgraceful product placement that goes on. You can’t go ten minutes without some blatant plug for Canon, Citizen and (inevitably) Mitsubishi. The worst offence occurs when a shopping mall is destroyed by an explosion – a Mitsubishi 4X4 (which I’m sure, if memory serves correctly, has adverts for Citizen emblazoned on its side therefore killing two birds with one stone) rolls away from the devastation without the aid of a driver and stops safely outside having smashed a plate glass window in its escape. I’m not sure what they were trying to say – that Mitsubishi cars are sentient? That they can smash windows without losing tyre pressure? It may even be a sly reference to some jokey TV advert at the time or something that I’m not aware of, but otherwise it’s terribly distracting and ruins the illusion of the movie.
On a lighter note, Jackie’s action sequences are as phenomenal as ever from the eighties. He takes on the bad guys single-handedly and comes away a winner as is demanded from the audience. I’ll always remember the first time I watched the stunt with the refuse chute exploding with Jackie still inside it. I literally gasped in shocked surprise, and how many times can you say that about a scene in a movie? I’d say it’s one of his most underrated of stunts and deserves to be seen by all. Also noteworthy are the film’s explosion effects. A shopping mall gets a spectacular bang and a fireworks factory gets blown to smithereens. There was obviously a higher budget following the success of the original film and it looks like it all went on the pyrotechnics.
So while Police Story II does have some major flaws it is still a film very much from his golden age and has much to recommend it.
Osaka Wrestling Restaurant (2004) December 14, 2007
Posted by Cal in : Comedy, Romance, 2000s films , add a commentDirector: Tommy Law Cast: Timmy Hung; Wayne Lai; Ueno Miku Territory: Hong Kong/Japan Production Companies: Same Way Production Ltd; Yes Visions Co
Failed chef Ricky (Timmy Hung) is reunited with his brother Mike (Wayne Lai) upon the death of their father. Mike has “escaped” to Japan, and when Ricky caches up with him, he insists upon using their father’s inheritance to open a new style of restaurant – one when the diners can watch authentic Japanese wrestling while they eat! Helping them to make the restaurant a success is a Japanese reporter stranded in Hong Kong (Ueno Miku) and an unlikely bunch of would-be wrestlers with more enthusiasm than talent.
Funny how these things work out – a couple of weeks ago I’m doing a review on a film with Jackie Chan’s son (the rather topper Invisible Target), and now I find myself, quite by accident, reviewing a film with Sammo Hung’s son Timmy. Which raises an interesting question – does Yuen Biao have a son? Hmm. I’ll get my secretary to do some research immediately, and see if we can get a reunion of the three brothers’ sons as I think this is the only way we’ll get those genes together on screen again. Anyway, I digress – and it’s only the second paragraph…
Osaka Wrestling Restaurant starts off in a pretty naff way with some truly awful acting with Timmy Hung looking like he can’t keep a straight face despite the comedy being aimed at no higher than infant school level. This is zero-budget Hong Kong fare at its worst, I feared. Not even the inclusion of frequent Stephen Chow collaborator Law Kar-Ying as Ricky’s insane and comically evil ex-boss raises the level appreciably.
However, things definitely take a turn for the better when Wayne Lai enters the film. I’ve written about this guy before, so I won’t repeat myself, but he definitely seems to raise everybody’s game in this film - which seems like a wild claim but I urge anyone doubting it to see for yourself. He also has the film’s only dramatic moments when he tries to reconcile with the wife and son he left when he moved to Japan, claiming to be a changed man.
The first smiles are raised, inevitably, when the “Wrestling Restaurant” starts auditioning for performers and we get the usual gathering of oddballs, nutters and misfits. You’d be right to think that from here on in, the comedy pretty much writes itself, but this is not necessarily a bad thing considering the lameness of the early scenes. I’m guessing that the Japanese wrestlers shown or spoofed here (or at least the guy called “Super Delfin”) are “real” Japanese wrestlers, but I have to plead ignorance on the subject. The production does seem to be a Japanese/Hong Kong collaboration and the term “Osaka Wrestling” is used so often that I suspect it’s got to have some basis in fact (and is used to plug the sport I expect). The wrestling action is primarily played for laughs, but if you’re more aware of the subject than me, there may well be some in-jokes in there that went over my head.
We get some romantic comedy thrown in as well for no extra cost, and the inclusion of Japanese Ueno Miku as Kyoko provides some eye-candy for the male viewers. While the story is strictly by the numbers (boy meets girl, boy drops girl in a river for no readily apparent reason, boy courts girl while wearing wrestling mask to avoid girl finding out he was the one who dropped her in a river, girl finds out boy’s identity and dumps him, boy and girl get together again) this kind of thing is never too taxing and everyone can at least relate to it.
Sticking with Osaka Wrestling Restaurant does yield rewards, and by the end I was well into it. There are a few really good laughs (such as Tats Lau’s costume after he comes back from an unexpected trip) and the occasional moment of (light) drama. I suspect it is the kind of film that one can enjoy best with zero expectations and a hankering for some of the less demanding fare coming from Hong Kong. Although initially I was extremely sceptical of the merits of the film, I was eventually won over by two faults and a submission.
The Lady is the Boss (1983) September 12, 2007
Posted by Cal in : Comedy, Action, Kung Fu, 1980s films , 2 commentsDirector: Lau Kar-Leung Cast: Kara Hui Ying-Hung, Lau Kar-Leung, Lau Kar-Fai (Gordon Liu), Hsiao Ho, Wong Yu Territory: Hong Kong Production Company: Shaw Brothers
The human mind is a strange thing. Long ago, I’d got it into my head that I’d seen, on some kind of compilation tape, a scene from a movie where the monk San Te (made famous by the legendary 36th Chamber movies) battles alongside Hsiao Ho’s Mad Monkey persona in an early 80’s action flick in a gymnasium. Impossible stuff, to be sure, but I thought I’d seen it. After scouring my tapes, I realised it must have been some kind of demented fantasy, or at best I was horribly mistaken. But more on that later.
The Lady is the Boss seems like the final part of a trilogy of films by Lau Kar-Leung exploring tradition, the change in social attitudes over time and female liberation – themes that were hardly staples of the Shaw Brothers’ (or indeed, any Hong Kong company’s) output at that time. It’s probably entirely unintentional, but this feels like a relative of 1978’s sublime Heroes of the East (a film so good, I even stole the name of it for this blog!) and the worthy 1981 production My Young Auntie. All three have the same underlying theme and share an unusual trait for films of this genre – no one is killed and there’s very little ‘violence’ on screen.
That said, this is definitely a bit more barbed than either of the other two films. The main plot focuses on Mei-Ling (Kara Hui) coming to Hong Kong to run the martial arts school currently being taught by Wang (Lau Kar-Leung). Upon her arrival from the USA (Hui is seen chewing gum throughout and slanging English and Cantonese with a wantonness that leaves the poor Chinese traditionalists reeling), she despairs of the old-fashioned methods of teaching and Wang’s insistence on quality over quantity. You see, the school has just five pupils, and training in stances alone takes one full year! Mei-Ling comes in and revamps the school, getting lots of new students in the process. Among the new recruits are a bunch of nightclub workers, whose boss is not too happy that his ladies are being taught ways of fending off the advances of their clients. As the boss is played by veteran bad-boy Johnny Wong, we’ve got a pretty good idea where things are going to end up.
The Lady is the Boss must have looked dazzlingly modern back in 1983; which is to say it looks horribly dated now. We’ve got neon pink outfits, effeminate men wearing lipstick, terribly tinny disco music and even a few BMX bicycles – all the hallmarks of a true 80’s production! It all serves to make viewing the film all the more enjoyable, and no fan of the decade will be disappointed. Besides, it makes a change from all the period pieces being churned out at the time by the studio.
Comedy plays a strong part in the film, and while the attempts at humour aren’t as bad as other Shaw productions, it still occasionally grates. Like its predecessors, most of the humour is derived from the situations and the views of the traditionally minded versus the radical. In places, the film plays a little too much like My Young Auntie for its own good in this regard, and occasionally you can’t help but feel that you’ve seen it before.
Surprisingly, the kung fu is downplayed for much of the movie in favour of comedy skits and other action scenes (including, as has been mentioned above, a short sequence involving BMX bikes). When it does kick off, though, it’s pretty impressive. With the likes of Wong Yu (Dirty Ho), Lau Kar-Fai, Hsiao Ho et al (not to mention Lau Kar-Leung himself), you know you’re going to get something special. You have to wait a while, but you do get it eventually. And there it is – Lau Kar-Fai playing a man playing San Te, and Hsiao Ho doing his Mad Monkey routine. You’d be wrong to think there’s a good reason, plot-wise, for them doing it, but then there’s not a lot of reason involved in most of this film!
In the final analysis, there’s a feeling that subconsciously Lau Kar-Leung was still siding with tradition in this film, despite the “old guard” being shown as outdated and a trifle ridiculous. The five young men who trained under the old master still have far superior skills than anyone trained under Mei-Ling, and the “fast-track” training employed by her could be seen to be portraying “modern” martial arts training techniques in a derogatory light. But I could be looking into it a bit too deeply, there. It is, after all, an action comedy, and as they go, you could do worse than this 84-minute mini-celebration of 80’s kitsch.
Rush Hour 3 (2007) August 18, 2007
Posted by Cal in : Comedy, Action, Non-Asian , add a commentDirector: Brett Ratner Cast: Chris Tucker, Jackie Chan, Noémie Lenoir, Max von Sydow Territory: USA Production Company: New Line Cinema
I had a choice of film at the cinema today: Rush Hour 3 or The Simpsons Movie. I was pretty much sure I’d hate the former, and pretty sure I’d like the latter. So the yellow family won. It’s strange, then, that the words that left my lips at the box office were: “Rush Hour 3, please”.
D’oh!
Anyway, I figure I’m going to have to see this film at some point so I might as well get it over with. So is it as bad as everyone makes out?
Well, probably not. But that’s not to say it’s a good film, because it’s not that either. For a start, it’s easily the most predictable film I’ve ever seen. I don’t know whether this was a deliberate ploy by Ratner to engender a feeling of cosy familiarity, but probably not. The plot involves the shooting of the Chinese Ambassador by a group of Triads based in France, or something. There’s certainly some excuse for the two to go to Paris and I’m pretty sure that was it. It makes sense: the first Rush Hour was a fish-out-of-water film about a Chinese cop in the US, the second was a fish-out-of-water film about a US cop in Hong Kong, so in this one they’re both fishes-out-of-water. My bet is Rush Hour 4 will take place on Mars.
The film is basically a series of comedy skits with the odd action scene thrown in, and more often than not, the comedy falls completely flat. For example, there’s a scene where a captured henchman who only speaks French is questioned by Tucker and Chan, using a nun as an interpreter. They trade insults via the nun without using language that might offend her. Sounds like a recipe for hilarity, doesn’t it? You can see the comic potential in such a situation but for some reason it never even raised a smile. Similarly, when Tucker runs into a couple of guys called “Yu” and “Mi”…well you can guess what happens. It’s pretty much the same joke that Mike Myers used in one of his Austin Powers movies with the Japanese girls Fook Yu and Fook Mi. And then you’ve got the pacifistic French taxi driver with fierce anti-American views. His diatribe seems so odd and out of place that you twig it almost immediately: he’s eventually going to turn into a gun-toting, gung-ho badass just like Carter, isn’t he?
The action is pretty much what you’d expect: almost non-existent from Chan, who, unless I’m mistaken, is doubled throughout the film. It says something about the state of the series when you realise that Tucker (who has put on a few pounds since the last picture) pulls a few impressive moves. The Parisian locations look pretty good, though, and there’s the occasional bit of sexiness from Lenoir as the damsel-in-distress/bad girl with a secret. But eventually you’ll be looking at your watch wondering just when the bad guy will be revealed (sadly, there are no prizes for guessing who it is) so that you can watch the outtakes go home.
There are a couple of laughs in here, but they’re few and far between. The outtakes are the best part of the whole film, and when Jackie bursts through a doorway, gun raised, yelling “cheese!” instead of “freeze!”, it provided the biggest laugh of them all. It then descends into a “let’s make the foreigner say naughty things” type of thing, with Chan being given various lines in reference to getting a “dirty movie” – a line that a lot of his hardcore fans will hate, incidentally. He spouts things like “I like hairy women”, “I’m into feet” and finally, “I like hoses”, before tuning off-screen to ask, “what does this mean?” Sad, really. And there’s the customary Tucker out-takes where he’s on a plane and can’t get his words out. He does manage to order the gefilte fish, though.
This film won’t be shown in China. Whether it’s because of some negative racial stereotyping, the inclusion of Roman Polanski in a cameo role, that line about Chan wanting to watch a dirty movie, or just because the film isn’t really very good is the subject of some debate. You can’t help but feel that they’re not going to miss out on an awful lot.
The Heavenly Kings (2006) July 14, 2007
Posted by Cal in : Documentary, Comedy , add a commentDirector: Daniel Wu Cast: Daniel Wu, Terence Yin, Andrew Lin, Conroy Chan Territory: Hong Kong Production Company: Man 5 Productions Ltd
Could a bunch of Hong Kong actors, only one of whom can sing, form a successful Boy Band simply by hype and manipulating the marketing machine? That’s the question asked by The Heavenly Kings, an occasionally hilarious comedy filmed as a fly-on-the-wall documentary.
The film’s title is an ironic reference to the four “Heavenly Kings” of Cantopop (Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung, Leon Lai and somebody called Andy something) and opens with a bleak fact – in 1995, the total revenue from the Hong Kong music industry was HK$1.68 billion, while in 2005 it was HK$700 million. There’s no doubt that piracy is the main culprit, but there also seems to be a (global) social change in attitude towards music that’s hitting sales these days. It’s into this world that Daniel Wu and Co enter as the new Boy Band Alive.
Daniel sings like a drain, but is clearly the leader, and has the pretty-boy appeal necessary to make a hit with the girls. Andrew Lin is the serious one, and can often be seen talking to the camera about the problems facing the band. In stark contrast, Conroy Chan (AKA “Ba Ba”) is clearly just going along for the ride and takes nothing seriously at all (and declares: “I’m the fattest Boy Band member ever!”). Terence is the ringer; he can actually sing, and once released an album in Taiwan.
Upon entering the studio, it becomes apparent that Alive have got problems. However, with modern technology (specifically AutoTune, which corrects out-of-tune vocals), these problems are overcome with ease and the band cut their first record and enter the industry proper. Against all this are real interviews with real pop stars telling real horror stories about the industry and sharing their experiences. Most of these clips are interesting, but I found it hard to take Jacky Cheung bemoaning AutoTune and saying it was much harder in his day. His peak was in the 80’s, hardly the dawn of time as far as music goes!
Alive then hit upon the idea of deliberately uploading their tune onto a file-sharing network for everyone to download. This is a stroke of genius, as they gather together for a press conference to cry ‘foul’ on the music industry and the bootleggers. The result? A much higher profile for the band, public support and sympathy in a scene reminiscent of Gillian Chung’s (or was it Charlene Choi’s?) “Bra-gate” scandal. The group even set up their own website in a blaze of publicity (http://www.alivenotdead.com/– now an “online artistic community” but still with some Alive content). The cynicism doesn’t stop there though, in a world where “professional fans” can be hired (“F4 use them!”) to scream and wave placards at gigs, and where image stylists can create outfits the Village People wouldn’t have been seen dead in.
The Heavenly Kings is a mostly great exposé on the music business but towards the latter half the film loses its subtlety a bit, and the illusion is dented. Furthermore, the ending is a little familiar and predictable. Nevertheless, there aren’t many films that get me to laugh out loud these days and this achieved that rare feat a couple of times. It also seems to have achieved CAT III status simply with its use of swearing, which I found bizarre.
You certainly don’t need to know anything about the world of Cantopop to enjoy this film as the issues it addresses are pretty much global. And although I detest the whole manufactured pop world, I found myself cheering on this bunch of inept but likeable pop stars-in-waiting.
Where can I get the album?
Chinese Odyssey 2002 (2002) June 16, 2007
Posted by Cal in : Comedy, Romance , 2 commentsDirector: Jeff Lau Cast: Tony Leung (Chiu-Wai), Faye Wong, Vicky Zhao, Chang Chen Territory: Hong Kong Production Company: Jet Tone Productions
Ming Dynasty Emperor Zheng De (Chang Chen) and his sister, Princess WuShuang (Faye Wong) long for adventure away from the sanitized life inside their fortress home. The Princess, disguised as a man, encounters Li Yilong (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) and falls in love with him. Li is somewhat confused over his feelings for his new friend, whom he accepts as a man, and endeavours to marry “him” off to his sister, the mannish Phoenix (Vicky Zhao). But, though she is more than willing to accept, Li’s worrying feelings for his friend won’t go away. And then the Emperor himself escapes the castle and meets Phoenix and falls in love…
Chinese Odyssey 2002 is a sparkling romantic comedy based on an old Chinese legend of love that transcends social boundaries and produced by Wong Kar-Wai. There’s certainly nothing new here – all the gender confusion gags are present and correct and the romantic angle is completely by the numbers (you can confidently predict at which point our loving couple is going to get torn asunder and that they will ultimately get back together right at the end), but it’s written with heaps of wit and charm. There are gags about Ming-era speed cameras, the unreliability of Wuxia super-powers and parodies of Wong Kar-Wai’s Film Noir voiceovers.
No doubt cast because of their on-screen chemistry in Wong Kar-Wai’s sublime art house rom-com Chungking Express, Tony Leung and Faye Wong are joined together again in this, and are every bit as good together as before. Tony Leung really is Hong Kong’s Mr Reliable – he always gives a strong performance and this is no exception. Faye Wong is quirky, charming and loveable as usual. I have been a fan of Faye Wong for a while and I must admit I kind of took her performance for granted back when I first saw this in 2002. On seeing her now, you really do see that the film and music business lost something special with her “retirement”. Vicky Zhao, although glammed-down as the Tomboy-ish Phoenix, is still irresistibly watchable, especially when heartbroken over being spurned by the Princess – only to fall in love with the Emperor!
I don’t know if it’s the influence of Wong Kar-Wai, but Chinese Odyssey is also shot beautifully. Almost every shot has a kind of fantasy feel to it – even the comedy scenes. It is let down on the audio front though, with some pretty invasive dubbing of voices. It’s a terrible shame that a film that excels so well at the visual should screw it all up on the audio, but that’s the way it goes, I suppose. Besides, we get a couple of musical numbers from Faye thrown in, so it’s not all bad news. The original DVD release came with the soundtrack on CD, and although it’s a little samey in places, it’s still a nice memento of the film.
I find it increasingly hard to find films that make me laugh out loud, but this one still does. Nearly ever gag hits the spot, and though trite, the cross-dressing and gender confusion mayhem are always going to raise a smile in even the most cynical viewer.
Bio Zombie (1998) May 20, 2007
Posted by Cal in : Blogroll, Horror, Comedy, 1990s films , 4 commentsDirector: Wilson Yip Cast: Jordan Chan, Sam Lee, Angela Tong, Lai Yiu-Cheung, Emotion Cheung Territory: Hong Kong Production Company: Cameron Entertainment Co
Long before Zack Snyder made the official Dawn of the Dead remake, Wilson Yip (who would later go on to helm the ultra-slick and ultra-stylish SPL) made his own. Sure, it has more laughs than frights, but the basic premise of a bunch of survivors in a mall over-run with the walking dead remains the same.
The twist here is that the survivors want to get out of the mall as it has become the centre of the zombie activity thanks in no small part to our two heroes. Woody Invincible (Jordan Chan) and Crazy Bee (Sam Lee) are two slackers who run a dodgy VCD stall in the mall (having seen the quality of their stock, I think I may have purchased some of their VCDs in the past), while Woody’s would-be girlfriend Rolls (Angela Tong) is a vacuous beautician who strings along “Sushi Boy” (the wonderfully named Emotion Cheung), a well-meaning chef in the Mall’s Japanese restaurant just to get a discount. Rounding out the crew are Woody and Crazy Bee’s scumbag boss Mr Kui (Lai Yiu-Cheung) and his beautiful but downtrodden wife (Tam Suk-Mui). It is a testament to Lai’s skill as an actor that he pulls off such a vile role so well after playing the kindly, gentle “Piggy” in TVB’s Journey to the West! From this essentially unlikeable cast of characters we have what passes for Bio Zombie’s heroes – but it’s best not to pass judgement on them until they show their mettle in a crisis situation.
There’s a plot in here, but for the first forty minutes you’d hardly know it. A biological agent is stored in a bottle of Lucozade (surely a recipe for disaster right from the start!) and is being sold illegally nearby. This agent can turn people into killing machines – albeit very slow, shuffling killing machines with a taste for human flesh. The deal goes horribly wrong when the test case escapes and eats the weapons dealers. A survivor is picked up by the two slackers when they inadvertently knock him over in their car – and is given a drink from the Lucozade bottle to perk him up! The survivor, left for dead in the boot of Woody’s car, goes on a rampage when they reach the mall and thus kicks off the zombie invasion.
There’s some weird stuff in the first half of Bio-Zombie that has nothing whatsoever to do with zombies and has no place in a horror film. The comedy factor is so high early on that you actually forget what’s going to happen, and when it does, it’s quite a shock. The acting is quite remarkable at times, and much higher than you’d expect in a movie like this. The preliminary scenes setting up the heroes and villains pay off big time come the final reel because of all the goofing around earlier, not despite it. It even conjures up a fair bit of tension at times, particularly when the pair are handcuffed in the Security Guards’ office during an attack. The zombie make-up is not terribly complex or groundbreaking, but this doesn’t hamper the fun in any way. The zombies themselves are straight out of Romero’s world, and the same rules apply: only severe head wounds (preferably a headshot with a firearm) will stop them, and anything else is just going to fail.
The Mei-Ah DVD is a bit of a travesty, it has to be said. There is a US version, I believe, that has a very entertaining dub, but that sort of thing goes against the grain for me and I can’t see myself ever watching it. The problem with the Mei-Ah disc is the sound – it’s probably the worst I’ve ever heard on DVD. The picture is no more than adequate, but the subs throw up some strange “Chinglish” on occasions – such as when Woody and Sushi Boy burst into the gents’ toilet to find Crazy Bee in there. When asked what he was doing, he shouts back, “I am stooling!”. There are quite a few nuggets like that in here. The main selling point seems to be the very short alternate ending, but it is rather pointless and seems to have been filmed without serious consideration of actually being used.
Sam Lee would return (as a different character) in Bio Cops – an unnecessary and unsatisfying sequel that should have taken a headshot in the planning stages.
I Love Maria (1988) May 18, 2007
Posted by Cal in : Comedy, Action, Sci-Fi, 1980s films , add a commentDirector: David Chung Cast: John Shum, Tsui Hark, Sally Yeh, Tony Leung (Chiu-Wai), Lam Ching-Ying Action Director: Ching Siu-Tung Territory: Hong Kong Production Company: Win’s Film Workshop
Hong Kong has never been a great producer of Sci-Fi. I don’t know whether it’s a cultural thing or simply a case of they never had the budget and technology (until relatively recently) to create credible films in the field. I Love Maria puts a typical 80’s Hong Kong spin on the genre - brutal gun violence goes hand-in-hand with family-friendly humour, the occasional hint of romance rears its head and scenes of touching redemption warm the heart. Except this time there are bloody big robots all over the place.
The misleadingly named Hero Gang is terrorising Hong Kong with bank robberies carried out by a seemingly invincible robot called Pioneer I. Curly (John Shum – I think all of his characters were called Curly), a member of the Special Weapons branch of the police, and Whiskey (Tsui Hark), a former member of the Hero gang, team up when they are both accused of betraying their respective factions. They are attacked by Pioneer II – an android modelled on the Hero Gang’s main female boss Maria (Sally Yeh) by her lover who is looking for a permanent replacement that will never age or deteriorate. Curly and Whiskey, who are occasionally aided and abetted by reporter TQ Zhuang (Tony Leung), get the best of the droid purely by accident and begin to reprogram her to do their bidding, leading to a showdown with the Hero Gang, a master who wants to switch sides (Lam Ching-Ying), Pioneer III, the Real Maria and the Boss himself (Ben Lam).
What surprises most about I Love Maria is that the effects aren’t too bad. They’re nowhere near Hollywood standard, but they generally don’t look too cheesy and there’s no over-reliance on low shots of fragile-looking miniatures that you would have expected. It probably goes without saying, but Sally Yeh plays both the human Maria and the android version. She spends most of her time in the android form, and her costume and actions make her look like a cross between C3PO, Robocop and something from Metropolis. Tsui Hark, one of Hong Kong’s most respected directors, takes a co-starring role in this and shows his flair for comedy and makes a good partnership with John Shum, both looking as though they’re thoroughly enjoying themselves. Again, this sort of thing can only be found in Hong Kong – you couldn’t imagine Steven Speilburg appearing in Short Curcuit, could you? I’m slightly puzzled by Tony Leung Chiu-Wai (who incidentally looks almost unrecognisably young in this) - I’m still not sure why he was there, but he does kick-start the plot sometimes and provides even more comic relief.
Like so many films from this period, I Love Maria is mainly played for laughs, and it’s hard not to find it likeable at least some of the time. The drama is dropped in sporadically and always feels a bit forced and a little hackneyed, but the fun factor never dips too low and the sight of Sally Yeh encased in metal will always be enough entertainment for some people.
I’ve always loved the title of this film: it’s one of the rare instances where the theme or nature of the piece isn’t given away by the title. It sounds like a romance or at least a cheerful and bright bit of rom-com fluff. But a film about bloody big robots? That’s class.
Today’s trivia question: Tsui Hark appeared in another film involving robots. What was it called?
The Millionaire’s Express (1986) May 15, 2007
Posted by Cal in : Comedy, Action, 1980s films , 2 commentsDirector: Sammo Hung Cast: Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Richard Ng, Kenny Bee, Eric Tsang, James Tien, Jimmy Wang Yu, Lydia Shum, Sek Gin, Rosamund Kwan, Emily Chu, Pauline Wong, Richard Norton, Cynthia Rothrock, Hwang Jang-Lee, Kurata Yasuaki, Oshima Yukari, Lam Ching-Ying Action Director: Sammo Hung Territory: Hong Kong Production Company: Golden Harvest
The plot revolves around a ne’er-do-well named Chin Fong-Tin (Sammo Hung), who deliberately derails the titular train on its way to Shanghai so that the wealthy passengers will have to stop at the nearby village and visit his “hotel”. Which sounds straightforward, but there’s a group of people who want to rob the train and they’re the kind of people you really don’t want to mess with. Added to that are problems with local upstanding citizen and Fire Chief Tsao (Yuen Biao), who endeavours to thwart Chin’s efforts at every opportunity, and a hostile local population who remember Chin’s conniving nature from when he was a kid. As if that wasn’t enough, Chin also has to deal with his troublesome but well-intentioned prostitutes (which include Rosamund Kwan, Emily Chu and Pauline Wong). Oh, and there was a bank robbery earlier and the fugitives are on the loose and they also want to rob the train. And if that wasn’t enough, there’s a lothario on board the train who’s brought his wife and his mistress and must keep them from meeting each other. And none other than Wong Fei-Hung himself (Jimmy Wang-Yu) is feuding with a fellow master (Sek Gin) and their young protégés and that’s not to mention the three Japanese swordsmen (and woman) who are after a national treasure…and…and…
If you think the above must make for some horrific Hong Kong throw-everything-at-the-screen-and-hope-something-works type of experience, you’d be wrong. The Millionaire’s Express is, for me if no one else, pretty much the pinnacle of Hong Kong action comedy cinema. While some films have better action sequences, and other films are perhaps funnier, none bring together the elements in one movie better than this. It may well be broad farce and little more than a Hong Kong version of It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, but when the results are this much fun, who cares?
The cast includes pretty much everyone involved in Hong Kong cinema and television at the time (apart from Jackie Chan, who is very conspicuous by his absence) and all work together beautifully. Although nobody gets much screen time apart from Sammo and Yuen Biao, you rarely get the feeling that people are simply being rolled out for a quick cameo (apart from Bolo, perhaps) and some, like Richard Ng as an unlikely Don Juan, have incredibly memorable (and hilariously funny) parts.
Picking out standout events in the film is pretty much impossible, and I’m not even going to try except to say the almost cartoon-like way Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao knock seven shades of crap out of each other is a joy no fan should miss. Sammo Hung excelled himself in his directorial duties, and the three scriptwriters (the late, great Barry Wong, Alfred Cheung and Wong Wang-Gei) should have been given medals for creating such a coherent whole out of the sum of so many parts.
This is definitely one film you can watch again and again and again and still get immense enjoyment out of. This film was the first of what many fans consider a trilogy of films linked by nothing other than their sheer quality (the others being Eastern Condors and Pedicab Driver). While the other two certainly are great, this is probably the one that bears repeated viewings best.