Daai laap mat taam Ling Ling Fat

Saw this on a flight from Tokyo to HK - had no idea what it was about (still don't, really) but it had my wife and I ROTFL. There's bits about the alien autopsy, Academy Award speeches and cooking shows, I think.

Doesn't make any sense, has cheesy effects and this isn't really acting, just mugging for the camera and winking at the audience, but everyone's very charming and once you stop worrying about the story (there might have been one, somewhere), you won't stop laughing.

I really like this movie, indeed. Love the way Stephen Chow shows on screen.

Forbidden City Cop was a movie that suprised the hell out of me. When i first saw a copy of the thing, i twisted my face up in confusion, not knowing what the hell i was in for. Lucky, i picked up a copy and about an hour and a half after chucking it into my vcr, i was still laughing my ass off.

This film is the perfect mix of comedy, corruption, and sheer lunacy. The fight scene with the magnets had me in tears, and the amount of golden one-liners in the film was hilarious.

In the immoral words of the Faceless Ninja: "BLAND AND FACELESS, MY SKILLS ARE UNFATHOMABLE!"

This movie is one of those which I can't decide whether I like or not.

It has some crazy fight sequences (verging on ridiculous) which are great, and some really impressive p**s-takes of james bond, butch cassidy etc... the action is great if you like over-the top silliness.

However, after about the first hour, the plot takes a turn and when 'inspector gadget' goes off to find a new concubine for the emperor pretty much nothing happens for about half an hour.

This is made up for in the final sequence which seemed surprisingly high-budget.

You should see this film if you are willing to accept that it is not to be taken seriously - and do not despair if you think they 'used up' all their action when the first few fights were over - be patient.

Many of the same sort of visual gags found in Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle get their first sparks here. The comedy is very broad, as usual for an HK production, and the production is uneven at times. The kung-fu is more crazy-fu and shot in dizzying super wide angle close- ups. In contrast the non-fighting portions are photographed nicely.

Chow is a good comic actor following in the footsteps of notable actors like Fu Sheng, Jacky Chan and others. The relationship between Chow's character and the wife is very well done for this type of film. There are lots of anachronistic media references and sometimes the film seems more like a TV show. Much of the action seems to be influenced by Ng See Yuen's Shaolin Drunkard films of the 1980's, not that that's bad at all.

Not as polished as Chow's later films but good fun.