| Wong Jing throws awesome action, cheap special effects, weird sci-fi elements, and crazy comedy into a seemingly pointless plot, all while ripping off every Spielberg movie of the day, and casting himself as a lead character. And to be honest, I could have gone my whole life without seeing him take a dump. But despite the low brow shenanigans and the uneven blend of genres, this insane hybrid of a film is actually pretty damn enjoyable.
This is a movie that only could have come out of HK. And only from the warped mind of Wong Jing. This thing is all over the place and tries so many things that, just by way of sheer statistics, it is bound to get at least some of them right. But as a whole, it is still a pretty surreal experience.
The whole thing with the kid and his alien friend, in the form of a fossilized piece of goo with magic powers, is just too ridiculous for words. This is Wong Jing at his unrestrained best--or worst, depending on your tolerance for his special brand of weirdness. The movie is poorly constructed, poorly paced, and never stops to check if it's actually making any sense. Why the film is partly set in Greece, of all places, is another headscratcher. And some of the characters are just too annoying for their own good, and yours. But despite all these flaws, it still somehow manages to end up as a strangely satisfying and thoroughly entertaining piece of cheesy 80's trash.
The main reason for that is the awesome action. Tony Leung Siu Hung's fight choreo is extremely tight. And you can't help but think that action this good deserved to be in a better movie. An excellent mix of the usual hyped up kickboxing stuff and classic kung fu styles. Andy Lau never looked better in action than he does here. And when Cynthia Rothrock and Richard Norton start throwing down, it's happy hour for fight fans everywhere.
If you can take the good with the bad, then you should definitely check this movie out. Because, good taste aside, this kind of cinematic HK craziness is now a thing of the past. |