| First up, this is neither a rip-off nor a spoof of the similarly named John Woo film. In fact, the translated Cantonese title (Ah Li, PaPa: The Robbers) is more appropriate. I found the movie to be an enjoyably neat little low-budget comedy; well made, well written and well cast. Essentially it's about a slightly macho drifter PaPa (Dayo Wong) and a retrenched bank clerk Superman Li Ka Sing and the circumstances leading to their first bank robbery. PaPa needs to prove his worth to both his girlfriend (Angela Tong Ying-ying) and his ex-rascal mate LoLo (Lai Yiu-cheung in yet another cool role). Ah Sing, on the other hand, has a 3 million dollar debt owing to a sinister debt collector (the horrible Bobby Yip/Baat Leung Gum).
The film is stylishly directed by Abe Kwong Man-wai and propelled along by a consistent score by Wai Kai-leung (with subtitled lyrics by the two main stars). The comedy is barely drops off and is gorgeous stupidity. Though not credited with the script, Cheung and Wong must have lent a hand as their usual off-beat styles appear alongside the occasional sub-themes of masculinity in HK. The support cast is equally good, including Vincent Kok and Matt Chow, as well as Law Lan. She plays a very persistent policewoman.
This film is lowbrow and silly, but well-done. There are some great scenes between the two leads, and they had a good comic chemistry. The best scene is their eventual bank robbery and the chase afterwards, which is fairly farcical. There is also a great joke about the HK film industry thrown in for the heck of it. |
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