Zui jia pai dang 3: Nu huang mi ling

I watched the Mad Missions in order 1, 2, 3 (4 will be next). The first confused me so much that I stopped the viewing and restarted the next day. The second stunned me so much that I re-watched it the same evening. And now this one..

It is different, with another director, and a much higher budget, it appears. It is still silly, but seems to have grown up and dropped most of the boys' toys the first two featured.

But I also noticed how with experience one sees a film differently. Had I watched it without context, I might have thought, "that hairy-beardy police chief is very unconvincing". But what I thought was, "Hey, there's Tsui Hark again, the FBI loonie from #2". And soon to find out he's also the director of this piece. With experience, one starts to feel as part of the family of Sam Hul, Carl Maka, Sylvia Chang (why, I even was at their wedding) ...

Again there were cute details that made me laugh out loud. Consider a high security access system that plays Tic-Tac-Toe (and can be cheated with extra hardware). There's a glimpse of that old boy's humor again.

The German CinePlus DVD has the English soundtrack for which I'm very grateful (the German dub added excess silliness). And, if you care to spend another half-hour, a very rich set of cut scenes (some adding new content to the plot, some just out-takes). Silent (just with the title music), but ample proof how much hard work goes into making such a film - innumerable retries of the fight at the Seine, or just the scene in Bond Street which starts at street level and then pans up to a window.

I must say I have now acquired the Zuijia Paidang taste, and look forward for #4 now :)

The second sequel to Hong Kong's Aces Go Places, it is a story about King Kong (Samuel Hui), while vacationing in Paris, being kidnapped by a British agent called James (Jean Mersant), who wants to recover one of the stolen crown jewels, the Star of Fortune, supposedly at the request of the Queen of England. King Kong attempts to steal the jewel at the Hong Kong Police Headquarters without his partner-in-crime, Detective Albert "Baldy" Au (Karl Maka), knowing.

Like the previous movie, the plot is fast-paced and full of adventure. the story has slightly less corny jokes and silly action than the previous movie, and incorporates some slick and daring cross-culture references, like the appearance of James Bond villain actor Richard Kiel and Mission Impossible actor Richard Graves. There are also characters named James Bond and Oddjob in the movie - obvious references to 007 films. King Kong trying to pull off a heist while not betraying his partners is a pretty captivating plot.

There is wild action in abundance, but still doesn't quite capture the fun of the original film. Still, it's worth a watch.

Grade B-

and i'm not just speaking about technical surroundings like cinematography or editing. It is a more ambitious movie that tries to be as silly and enjoyable as his predecessors.

It's especially a credit to Tsui Hark for his fast pace because there'll happen so many things in so little time that it makes you sweat, here's a way more rich story and better portrayal of its characters, simply the best even though Hark reportedly lost any creative freedom over this film, but still managed to make it much more hilarious and balanced movie than any other in this fun series.

It's especially a credit to Tsui Hark for his fast pace because there'll happen so many things in so little time that it makes you sweat, here's a way more rich story and better portrayal of its characters, simply the best even though Hark reportedly lost any creative freedom over this film, but still managed to make it much more hilarious and balanced movie than any other in the fun series.

In this third outing of the series, King Kong is hired by some people who say they work for the Queen of England. They claim that some jewelry from the crown has been stolen, and they want King Kong to steal it back. But things are not quite what they seem, and King Kong and Baldy are in trouble again.

Compared to the first two movies in the series this is the worst, it's not quite as action-packed as the others, but relies more on humour, which gets kind of stupid after a while. Maka, who plays Baldy, sets new records in overacting, and the Bond-inspired characters are quite lame.

Skip this one, and proceed directly to the next, which is better (Ringo Lam is the king).

Tsui Hark's entry into the mad mission series takes things to the next level with a hilarious riff on infamous James Bond films. Kicking off in Paris, we see King Kong on his holidays only to be suddenly attacked by a mysterious girl, followed by the hat throwing Odd-Job, before getting into battle in an elevator on the Eiffel Tower with Bond villain, Jaws himself!

After a crazy parachute jump, King Kong hits the water - although is lucky enough to have a mini-oxygen tank and propeller shoes to help him. And thankfully too, as a huge submarine designed to look like a shark comes after him. Once swallowed, Kong is introduced (hilariously) to James Bond and Queen Elizabeth who want to hire him to steal back the Queen's crown jewels...

Obviously, all is not as it seems, and so it begins!

Its clear that director Tsui Hark (along with co-director Yuen Kwai) wanted to deliver the biggest and funniest chapter of Aces Go Places when he made this one. Slickly directed, although never taking itself seriously of course, Hark swaps the crazy OTT gadgets and toys for a more advanced, hi-tec array as seen in the Bond films of the same era, complete with giant super computers and sets.

The slapstick is far from gone - but it does have quite a different tone at times to the first two films. It still has many laugh-out-loud moments, and of course by this stage the main cast is very comfortable in their roles. The added story of King Kong trying to pull of such a heist without betraying his friends helps mature things a little more also.

The cast is just as much fun as the film itself. The wonderful Ricky Hui (from Mr. Vampire and brother to Sam) gets more than an extended cameo as a cop, as does the hilarious John Sham (Winners and Sinners). Karl Maka just always cracks me up and I love watching the roller-coaster of a relationship between him and Sylvia Chang. The one-and-only Peter Graves (Mission Impossible; Airplane) also pops up which just adds even more of an international flavour to the film!

Another addition is that of Baldy Junior. The poor child of Maka and Chang! I'm sure this actor has been scarred for life after his experience on this film... Aces Go Places 3 is seen by many as the weaker of the series, but I have to disagree. It's quite different yes, but something well needed in terms of keeping things fresh for fans of the films. After all, the 2 previous chapters were so similar, I don't know if a third would have worked using the same formula. So, boring - it most certainly is not!

Overall: Slick and ambitious, part 3 is crazy fun and takes the series in a whole new directions!