Fei zhou chao ren

The last movie in the career of THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY star N! Xau is perhaps the least of his work, but not without merit for fans of wacky Hong Kong comedies. This one's a cheap but enthusiastic ensemble piece partially shot on the Great Wall. It involves Kent Cheng and N! Xau becoming enlisted into a team racing as part of a competition, and they have to fend off rivals including a random panda-hunting businessman, Arabs and some Shaolin monks. Cynthia Khan pops up as a jungle dweller and Cheng Pei Pei plays the trainer. There's a random interlude in the middle with a whole bunch of obviously circus-trained animals which can be hard to stomach, although the pandas are admittedly cute.

OK, there are a few cute scenes with Pandas, but apart from that... Shooting the people who made this isn't good enough! But you know, I actually thought this was part 3, because they released it on VHS under that title (since 3 and 4 were never released here). Maybe if I saw the two movies in the middle it might have helped, but as I'm just watching the real part 3 (and I saw the N'Xau imitating Bruce Lee) I somehow doubt.

They should have stopped after part 2 - no more craziness. Make it good or don't make it at all!

I mean come on!

This was about a culture shock of "civilized" people not being able to survive in the desert, not about Panda preservation and running all over the Chineese Wall!

By the time Hong Kong films its third film featuring African bushman N!xau, his character has really gotten pretty commercialized and ridiculed into goofiness and idiocy. In this film, the bushman supposedly travels to Beijing where he's recruited to join a track team on a survival race through the Chinese wilderness.

Plenty of unfunny nonsensical comic stuff and goofy acting, with a plot that really goes all over the place. OK to give it a pass.

Grade D--

I'm not saying that it's that good either.

It's certainly the weekest of the Gods Must Be Crazy series. And a martini or two taken internally beforehand will help.

N!xau, you see, is stranded in China after somehow getting there while attending the All-China conference in Swaziland (maybe he discovered the martini). He needs money to get back to the Kalahari and is working in advertising by running around the city carrying this giant Coke bottle.

Amy Fong, the trainer of a team in the upcoming foot race sees how fast he is and eventually gets him on her team. The race eventually gets started. It's along the Great Wall of China and eventually winds up in Panda country.

The bad guy is trying to capture a panda. N!xau, the race team and the pretty young Chinese girl have to fight off the bad guys, rescue the panda and of course win the race.

No matter how funny you may think it would be to rent out this "sequel" to the Gods Must be Crazy, believe me when you pop it in the VCR and start watching it the word "excruciating" will take on a whole new meaning.