L'Arnaqueur de Hong Kong

Chow was witty, funny and cool as cucumber. His whole charisma shows in this film. Under the jovial mask hides the God of Gambler. Force is just the means to an end, wits is the ultimate deciding factor.

(1994) God of Gamblers' Return (In Chinese with English subtitles) ACTION/ COMEDY

Written and directed by Wong Jing wanted to make some money and he knows how to do it, by making this nonsensical 2nd or 4th whatever you call it! Whatever what was shown on this film had already been shown before on other films whether it's action or comedy and was better! This was a total waste of time that despite doing really well at the box office making it the highest grossing movie of that year in Hong Kong, star Chow Yun Fat disapproved of Wong Jing's direction this time one reason that is apparent was that in the first film suave Chow Yun Fat always wore a suit and tie and in this one I don't remember him wearing one at all! The gags are not funny because of a lack of credibility where the jokes are forced as well as the action sequences meaning that director Wong Jing didn't put too much thought into this film and just wanted to make a fast buck! You can watch this for curiosity sake, if you like what you saw from the first three movies.

Chow Yun Fat has 2 modes in his movies: super-cool & super-goofy. These 2 modes are often signalled by his hairstyle: the slicked-back hair (e.g., "The Killer") and the scruffy hair (e.g., "City on Fire.")

This movie is fun because it incorporates both modes, and the movie itself also veers from tragic to super-silly - and it works. There are things in this movie that are so wacky that you have to see it to believe it.

The gambling scenes in this movie, especially the earlier ones, are staged more like sporting events, and are the most entertaining gambling you'll ever see in a movie. Again, if you're hung up on realism, you'll find it preposterous.

But if you're prepared to loosen up and enjoy a fun movie, you won't be disappointed.

"The Return of God Of Gamblers" is one of the few sequels that manages to be better than the original film. Chow Yun-Fat returns as Ko Chun or "The God Of Gamblers" in a more action-packed film. This movie has plenty John Woo-style actionscenes that will please any old fan of Hongkong-actionfilms, and the acting and story is also good. As in all actionfilms from Hongkong, the theme is brotherhood, friendship, betrayal and vengeance. A superb movie that surpasses the original movie in every way, but be sure to watch the original "God Of Gamblers" before you see this. 9/10

I will have to say that this sequel is a step down from the original first movie. Why? Well simply because they put too much stupid comedy in it, which really worked as an anchor and dragged the movie down.

Sure it was good to see Chow Yun-Fat reprising the Ko Chun character, and he did act well enough. Unfortunately he wasn't joined by Andy Lau, which would have been a great addition to the movie having him reprising his character as well. Instead Chow Yun-Fat is joined by Tony Leung Ka Fai and Chingmy Yau on the screen.

Storywise, then "The Return of the God of Gamblers" wasn't as enjoyable as the first movie. There were some really great moments in the movie, sure, but in overall it was just not as good as the first movie. And I repeat myself again here, but the implemented attempts at bringing comedy into this movie was so poor that it made the movie suffer instead of improving it.

Don't get me wrong, "The Return of the God of Gamblers" isn't a bad movie, but personally I didn't think too much of it, especially not compared to the first "God of Gamblers" movie. They have strayed a bit too far into the comedy genre for my personal liking.