Shang tian jiu ming

Aug 21

This is a comedy thriller with Eric Tsang, Richard Ng and Cherie Chung, amongst others.

Good comedy and also good thriller elements too, it works very well indeed.

Lots to like

9 out of 10.

This is like many HK films of the time, come up with a crazy premise and work it through. Mak, played veteran Eric Tsang, is told by two devils he will die after three other people do. He is a loser, just lost his job and he drank too much and parked by a cliff. Another car rams into his parked car and he goes down the cliff. On the way up, after meeting with the devils who tell him of his fate, the first of three ends up thrown out of a car and dead at his feet. He has to save the other two, an actress called Ms. Pao and a horse trainer Mr. Shek. He enlists the help of Shek's sister Cathy, played by popular actress Cherie Chung. What follows is some violence, action and everyone moving and speaking in fast motion. Its not essential, its downright dilly at times, but its never boring, so its watchable. It will work best for those who want to see a film which they can check their brains at the door for. Its not meant to be a masterpiece and it has Eric and Cherie in it, so its not all bad. Don't watch it with a critical eye and you'll be fine.

Hong Kong actor Eric Tsang stars as bad luck-plagued Mak who, after a near-death experience, was given a prophecy that three strangers will precede him in death. As a result, Mak goes on a mission to make sure that those three strangers' deaths are prevented, thereby preventing his own unfortunate fate. Meanwhile, he gets himself mixed up in the cross-hairs of a homicidal cop and a corrupted drug dealer.

This film has a combination of horror, crime, thriller and comedy elements that balances out pretty well, making it an enjoyable story. Though some of the characters are a little wacky, mostly Eric Tsang's Mak character, much of the acting was pretty good and attributed to a respectable cast including actresses Cherie Chung, Wong Wan-Si and actors Paul Chun and Richard Ng.

Though not the conventional ghost comedies from Hong Kong, this movie has a touch of supernatural elements when Mak pays a visit to the gates of the spirit world after his near death experience and encounters the guardians of hell. His mission to prevent his deathly fate by protecting the three strangers who were said to precede Mak in death is an intriguing part in the film, and the subplot regarding the homicidal cop and the drug dealers gives the movie an intriguing spin.

It's a good movie for some laughs and some scares as well. Worth your time.

Grade B