Hong fu qi tian

This film essentially involves a young man named "Fatty" (Sammo Kam-Bo Hung) who works as a car attendant at a hotel and is bitter over the fact that his deceased grandfather "Hung Kau" (also played by Sammo Kam-Bo Hung) has left him and "Fatty's father" (also played by Sammo Kam-Bo Hung) destitute. Because of that he is constantly trying one get-rich-quick scheme after the other and uses his best friend "Hoi" (Hoi Mang) to help him out. The only problem is that the two of them are totally inept and fail each and every time they try. Then one day they observe a car thief named "Lily" (Nina Li Chi) and become determined to share in her success. Naturally, things don't quite work out at first but that all changes when Fatty's grandfather suddenly appears as a ghost and begins to help them out. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this is one of those comedies that seemed to be tailored for a specific audience because much of it didn't really appeal to me with the martial arts scenes being particularly uninteresting. It also has a number of jokes aimed at the Chinese government which was scheduled to take control over Hong Kong in 6 years from the date this film was produced which some viewers might not fully appreciate as well. In any case, this was one of those film that I simply couldn't quite get interested in and I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

In this Hong Kong ghost comedy, Sammo Hung plays three different characters: Fatty, Fatty's father and Fatty's grandfather, Hung Kau. Fatty is a hotel worker and yearns for easy money and becoming rich. Therefore, he and his friend, Hoi (Hoi Mang), try their luck gambling. When Fatty hits rock bottom, the ghost of his grandfather appears and decides to help him, but only if he helps his soul avenge his death.

The comedy is average at best, not much real laugh-out-loud moments, and the humor is pretty broad and general, nothing too memorable to remark about. The ghost + gambling + revenge angle was pretty intriguing in the film, though, and kept the plot a little well-paced from start to finish, but the elements do get drowned out sometimes in some of the broad humor.

In addition to the starring roles of Sammo Hung and Hoi Mang, there is is delightful co-starring role of Nina Li Chi as car-smuggling beauty Lily and James Wong as the one of the villains. There is also a wide range of well-known actors in the movie such as Richard Ng, Stanley Fung, Corey Yuen, Paul Chun, Lam Ching-Ying and Wu Ma. However, most were just, unfortunately, cameo appearances.

The martial arts of the film doesn't come until late in the movie; however, it's not a bad tour-de-force and has some cool Kung-Fu moments.

It's not a bad movie, could have used more comedy and ghost horror, but it's serviceable enough to entertain people.

Grade B-

Sammo Hung stars as three characters in this martial arts comedy, with Mang Hoi in a supporting role as the long-suffering friend of one of the incarnations of the portly kicker. Unfortunately, this film is nowhere near as funny as it often thinks it is, and generally fails to ignite a spark of interest in the audience. So many superb actors are criminally underused, such as Lam Ching-Ying, Richard Ng, and Billy Chow. The comedy is broad (as is expected) yet is often tiresome, and the fights are rare and of lower quality than we have come to expect from the legendary Sammo (bar a few moments in the final reel). Only Wu Ma's performance as a crazy swordsman remains in the memory. If you are not anticipating a kung-fu fest but are desperate for a Sammo Hung movie, then you might as well give this a go.

From comedy director Clifton Ko, who brought us some amazing Micheal Hui films, and the incredible Sammo Hung who needs no introduction, comes an average martial arts gambling comedy that should have been so much better than it was!

While not crap by any means, The Gambling Ghost sees Sammo play 3 roles - that of son, father and grandfather - which share many scenes a lot of the time and is worth the price of admission alone. His acting for each of them is spot on, and convinces the audience that there may just be more than one Sammo in scenes shared by the characters.

With the success of the classic God Of Gamblers just before its release, its understandable that many film makers would be jumping at the chance to deliver their own entry to the genre, and while The Gambling Ghost isn't overly memorable (although I guess allows itself repeated viewings), it still has many fun moments and great fights that entertain.

Although made in the height of Hong Kong cinema's 'golden years' it sits far from being a classic, but fans of Hung and co-starring legends will be more than happy!

Overall: Not a classic, but definitely worth a watch at least once...