Du cheng feng yun

Chow Yun Fat has not been this funny, or charming, or all-round entertaining in a long while as he is in 'From Vegas to Macau', and that alone is reason enough to make a beeline for this caper comedy during the Lunar New Year holiday. Touted as the long-awaited reunion between Chow and Wong Jing in a gambling-themed action comedy since their hugely successful 'God of Gamblers' series in the 1990s, it also sees Wong at his slapstick best, and that is saying a lot for the prolific filmmaker who has been known more for the quantity of his output than for quality.

In a role that bears many similarities to his iconic 'Ko Chun' from 'God of Gamblers', Chow is the legendary gambler Ken who is renowned for his ability to read cards simply by touching them. Dubbed 'Magic Hands', the former Las Vegas Chief Security Consultant has returned to Macau to be with friends and family to celebrate his birthday, as well as to find a love interest for his only daughter Rainbow (Kimmy Tong). But Ken isn't just a replica of Ko (as the hilarious epilogue will also make a point about); instead, the former is also a prankster, and unlike his predecessor, has a madcap sense of humour.

Truth be told, Chow doesn't appear until almost 20 minutes into the movie, which teases his entry by first introducing its supporting acts. Chow's co-stars here are Nicholas Tse and Chapman To, whom together with the former's father and the latter's uncle played by Hui Shiu Hung, are a team of swindlers out to rob the rich to return a piece of justice (and hopefully some cash along with it) to the poor. Benz (Shiu Hong) is an old friend of Ken's, and brings Cool (Tse) and Karl (To) along for the latter's lavish birthday bash held at the Venetian Macau no less.

As with most Wong Jing action comedies, there is a lot going on at the same time. On one hand, you have Karl having the hots for Rainbow even as the latter (and we might add her father Ken) has her eye on Cool. On another, you have both Cool and Karl trying to convince Ken to take them under his wing as his disciples. But what really puts a spin on things is the addition of the villainous Mr Ko (Hugh Gao), the leader of a money laundering organisation that Cool's stepbrother Lionel (Philip Ng) was an undercover agent in just before his untimely death. Long story short, Ken, Cool and Karl find a common enemy in Mr Ko, setting the stakes for an action-packed finale set on board a luxurious cruise vessel.

One can certainly criticise Wong Jing for the slapdash manner in which he flits between the various elements, but in the case of 'From Vegas to Macau', there is a zany energy with which he combines them for maximum crowd-pleasing entertainment. Lest it be any surprise, Wong has never been one to pay careful attention to plot and/or character development; instead, like a much more sophisticated Jack Neo, he isn't afraid to cut straight to the punch line if necessary, which also explains why certain subplots or characters even are presented but never really expounded - like Chapman To's Karl, who is pretty much absent in the last third of the movie.

Thankfully, Wong Jing's comedic senses are at his sharpest here, so you'll likely be more than willing to overlook the obvious flaws in the story department. Ken's entry could not be more delightful with a hilarious game of poker between him and an arrogant challenger (played by Patrick Keung) as well as an obviously rigged lucky draw competition in order to engineer a match-up between his daughter Rainbow and Cool. There are also some good laughs to be had with the running jokes in the movie, including Ken's ability to imitate the sounds of gunshot with his mouth and a truth serum that Mr Ko's henchmen uses to force a confession out of his enemies.

But through it all, Wong Jing's best lines seem to be reserved for none other than Chow Yun Fat himself, who takes a break from the more serious and dramatic roles of late to indulge in some screwball comedy. To say the change is refreshing is an understatement, for Chow reminds his fans that he has lost none of his charisma or drollness over the years. His timing here is pitch-perfect, and the same can be said of his singing and dancing not once but twice with Benz Hui as well as a former love played by TVB actress Maria Cordero. Indeed, Chow easily upstages all of his younger, more handsome, and prettier co-stars, leaving Tse looking positively wooden and To a somewhat childish one-note act. It is also Chow who anchors the more incredible sequences, most prominently Ken's 'killer' card-throwing skills.

This is through and through Chow's show, a bravado display of charm and wit that will rekindle the love that his older fans have of him and win him a new generation of younger ones. As with last year's 'The Last Tycoon', Wong Jing seems at his creative best when paired with Chow, and even with the obvious change in tone, both actor and director have lost none of their collaborative spark. Here, they have created an unabashedly entertaining flick that packs action, comedy, romance and espionage into a rollicking package of fun and laughter. It's a perfect throwback to the 'God of Gamblers' series, and also your best bet at a jolly good time at the movies this New Year.

Terrible

The story is forgetful, too many meaningless, shallow humor fillers.

Cheesy/cringe/anger causing moments with overdone cg and spontaneous visual effects (tvb is behind the production, you know what that means).

I would not watch this again if I was paid. In fact, I stopped watching half way through because I was so disgusted at the quality of this crap.

Typical Hong Kong garbage from director Wong Jing.

Cannot recommend to anyone.

1/10

The God of Gamblers series were the films of my childhood and were amongst the first films I binge-watched on television. Chow Yun Fat in a pompadour and tuxedo with unexplainable gambling powers walking in slow-motion was just the epitome of cinematic cool. The success of the first GOG spawned three spin off series, a sequel and a prequel. The gambling movies peaked with the Stephen Chow series when he took it to new heights with his brand of nonsensical humor. The trend started to die out in the late 90′s and eventually in the 2000′s became embarrassing rehashes starring Nick Cheung. The only interesting addition was 1999′s The Conman starring Andy Lau, a reboot of The Knight of Gamblers series, which interestingly rooted the gambling into reality. Sadly it was ruined by its lackluster sequel The Conmen in Vegas, which was a string of unfunny lewd gags.

Now here we are with From Vegas to Macau, the story starts with small-time conman Cool (Nicholas Tse), whose undercover policeman half-brother (Phillip Ng) is murdered by Ko (Gao Hu), the head of an illegal gambling syndicate. Cool seeks the help of "Magic Hands" Ken (Chow Yun Fat), a legendary gambler turned casino security consultant, to battle Ko.

As you may have figured, Chow is unfortunately not playing the Ko Chun character. The Ken character is more akin to Chow's silly comedic roles in The Diary of a Big Man or The Eighth Happiness, which is overall less serious. However much of Chow's cinematic allure is still there. I can watch Chow Yun Fat in a tuxedo walking into lobbies greeting people all day. When Chow sits at a gambling table, you just want him to win so much you don't even care how he is doing it. He is the warm bright sun shining onto this film, and every time he is not on screen, it starts to feel cold and stale.

Nicholas Tse looks bored playing the stone-faced romantic lead Cool. Tse plays it so straight it looks like he belongs in another movie. Jing Tian, having previously starring together with Donnie Yen and Jackie Chan, is getting on my nerves from overexposure. Her policewoman is bland. I would kindly suggest that she go fire a real gun and wear the police gear before the day of the shoot, because she always looks like she's playing dress up. As the comic relief, Chapman To does the most with he's given with delivering the cheesiest jokes in rapid-fire delivery. To does it with such earnestness that he just about gets away with it.

Even after 20 years, Wong Jing is still giving the same gags. I started guessing the punchlines to all of the gags. Even worse, I knew where they were all done before. To name a few tropes: the international water plot twist, staging a fake football broadcast, and the fat women being undesirable gag are all here. The most unforgivable thing is that there isn't a final gambling match at the end, and the anticlimactic nature of that left me empty.

The biggest con man is perhaps Wong Jing himself, who in the final shot of the film, teases the audience with a surprise cameo appearance and plays a hip hop cover of Lowell Lo's original God of Gamblers theme song in the end credits, which insinuates the good film that he could have made, the film that everybody came to see. And that is just mean-spirited.

Wong Jing, having seen him speak in interviews, has a very 'ends justify the means' approach to everything he does. As long as he makes money, everything he does is justified. That is the accountant-like approach to Jing's directing. What's most infuriating is the gambling film series feel stuck in time is not because of its nineties pastiche, but because Wong Jing has no interest of taking it anywhere by updating or adding a new modern angle to it. From Vegas to Macau just feels like reheated overnight food.

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Anyone who watched Hong Kong movies from the 90s should roughly know what this film is about. From Vegas to Macau is another gambling-themed action drama comedy film directed by Wong Jing (王晶) which stars Chow Yun Fatt (周润发), but note that this film is not related to the God of Gamblers series from the past.

As with many Wong Jing's films from the past, the film is full of slapstick and nonsensical 'mou-lei-tau' (无厘头) comedic jokes, some worked, providing the audience a few laughs here and there, while some don't...as some of them feel forced and superficial or due to jokes being done several times by many films in the past.

The film will not be as entertaining as it should be without Chow Yun Fatt's charismatic performance as the legendary gambler turned Macau casino lead security consultant, Ken. It's been a very long time since we get to watch him involved in such a comedic, charming role. It's quite fortunate that he still got what it takes to carry the film. As usual, we have Chapman To (杜汶泽) to provide some comic relief to relieve some tension in the midst of serious elements in the film. On the other hand, Nicholas Tse (谢霆锋) delivered a quite disappointing, below-average, unenthusiastic performance as the good-looking main hero who knows how to fight, possibly to provide some eye-candy for female audiences.

The film lacks in plot and character development for many of the supporting characters, which is quite common for many Wong Jing films, so it's expected. The film is at best when it's not taken seriously and just go with the 'flow', enjoying the comedic scenes as they come and go.

Overall, it's still a decent entertaining film to watch during the Chinese New Year festive season, due to Chow Yun Fatt's incredibly charming performance.

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I sat down to watch "From Vegas to Macau" (aka "Du cheng feng yun") today, and oddly enough I haven't seen it before, nor were I actually aware of its existence. But it being a Hong Kong movie was more than sufficient for me to opt to sit down, spending time to watch it, of course.

"From Vegas to Macau" was an enjoyable mixture of classic Hong Kong movies such as "God of Gamblers" and other such Hong Kong movies from the mid-1990s. And it actually worked out well enough in favor of the movie.

Now, keep in mind that "From Vegas to Macau" is a movie that also incorporate some slapstick humor into the formula. Personally, I think it worked out well enough, because the movie wasn't really taking itself entirely serious. I was entertained by the added comedy element. But I doubt that this will sit well with everyone in the audience.

The storyline was straight forward and easy to follow. Perhaps it was a bit too generic, because it felt like directors Jing Wong and Siu-Hung Chung were running on autopilot at times.

I will say that this 2014 movie had a good cast ensemble, and anyone just slightly familiar with the Hong Kong cinema will be pleased to see the likes of Yun-Fat Chow, Nicholas Tse, Chapman To, Michael Wong and Shiu Hung Hui on the cast list. It was really nice to have Jin Zhang in the movie, and boy, I must admit that I am very impressed with his martial arts performance.

While "From Vegas to Macau" was by no means a gemstone in the Hong Kong cinema, it proved to be entertaining enough for what it was, and for that, I am rating it a six out of ten stars.