Ho moon yeh yin

Seemingly roping in about 95% of the Hong Kong Cinema industry, pretending that The Banquet qualifies as anything but a throwaway romp would be nonsensical. The story is strung together with the subtlety of a screaming competition and the plot twists are hackneyed and lame. The cameos and walk-ons are obviously meant to satisfy fans. The film's message is a well-meaning one, but the steps taken to get there are far from creative or interesting. While occasionally amusing, the film isn't really that good, as it was solely made to contribute to the relief efforts of the Yangtze River flood victims, so you can't deny the noble intentions of everyone involved as, ultimately, it does everything it's supposed to.

The most pressing issue for me however was the clear absences of Chow Yun-fat and Jackie Chan, must have been busy that weekend.

The occasion was Chinese flood relief, we are told in the introduction, and so this was put together even more quickly than the average Hong Kong film.

The movie is very light entertainment, but it's quite funny in spots and amiable the rest of the time. I mean, canto-pop singer George Lam as an Arab prince. It's like watching old friends clowning around in amateur theatricals. By this point, 1991, is George married to Sally Yip/Yeh, one of the film's other star cameos, or does that happen later? This is an Arab prince who speaks Cantonese, of course. Is George putting on an amusing accent? I'm guessing he is.

Some of the cameos are pretty slight. I lost track of how many lines Gong Li had. Was it two, or was it three? But she does get to look more glamorous than she does in most of her (later) Zhang Yimou pictures, where she always ends up with the entire weight of modern Chinese history on her shoulders. Sheesh.

Eric Tsang plays the main character, the tycoon who has forgotten his humble origins. Class-ridden Hong Kong society certainly is, and we get a good taste of that here, as the Rolls Royce rolls along what looks like Connaught Road in Central, and throughout the rest of the story.

This movie was filed in Hong Kong with the intention of donating its proceeds to flood victims in Mainland China. It stars Eric Tsang as a wealthy businessman trying to clinch a deal for the reconstruction of Kuwait after the Gulf War from a Prince. His business rival is a character played by Sammo Hung.

In addition to the starring cast of Eric Tsang, Sammo Hung, Carol 'Do Do' Cheng, Jacky Cheung, Richard Ng and Tony Leung, you get to see cameos from dozens of stars including Maggie Cheung, Gong Li, Anita Mui, Sally Yeh, Stephen Chow, Raymond Wong, Joey Wang, Aaron Kwok and Leslie Cheung.

It's a fun movie seeing all the stars together - the biggest cast ever assembled in a Hong Kong movie. The plot is simple and steady-paced; it's not too exciting, but you at least will get some laughs out of it.

Grade B