A mild box office hit, Forbidden City Cop opens with a parody of Gu Long's famous duel between the swordsmen Sai Moon Chui Suet ('Simon the Snow-blower) and Yip Gu Shing. Chow suddenly interrupts the fight as secret agent Ling Ling Fat (a pun on 008). As a member of the Emperor's personal guards it's his job to protect the peace, unfortunately he's terrible at it and allows them to escape. Fired for his incompetence, Fat returns home to his loyal wife Kar Ling, played wonderfully by Carina Lau Kar-Ling and starts his new practice as an incompetent gynecologist. Actually what he's best at is concocting crazy devices and gadgets (not unlike 007's doodad supplier, Q) that drives his wife nuts, such as a human powered kitchen fan and a novel use for rodents. Alas, Fat remains a loyal retainer and when he hears of an assassination plot against the Emperor, he and his wife sets off into the dangerous territory of their enemies in the Gum Kingdom to save the day. Those who think I've given away too many gags or plot, don't worry, you'll see the set-ups a mile away and the scenes will drag on so long you'll forget what you were watching anyway.

One of the reasons for the film's popularity is the presence of Carina Lau, an underrated actress who gives a lovely performance. She shines in every scene she's in, but unfortunately she just doesn't have any chemistry with Chow who sleepwalks through his role as the bumbling husband. His silly mugging and shtick is just too well worn and does nothing to distinguish Fat from the countless other goofy heroes he's played a hundred times. The supporting cast does their best to generate some laughs with the comical Law Kar-Ying as Fat's hapless sidekick who's forced to demonstrate a number of his ill-fated experiments. Television star Cheung Tat-Ming does an amusing turn as the selfish Emperor, as does the director himself, Vincent Kok Tak-chiu briefly playing a doctor with sharp knife and an ego to match. The other stand out is of course the stunning Carmen Lee as Gum Tso, a woman so alluring that she may even come between Fat and his wife. But even with these fine performances, they can't make up for a bored Chow, whose lack of manic energy or charm left me snoozing.

As this is primarily a comedy, there aren't a lot of action scenes, but the ones that are there are typical wire-fu with quick cuts and fast moving camera work. A few of the villains are unusual enough, but the battles just aren't interesting. Action director Poon Kin-Gwan's pedestrian choreography with Kin Lee Kin-Keung's poorly shot cinematography add up to an unremarkable visual experience.

Forbidden City Cop is a mediocre comedy that despite some good performances fails to match the verve and spunk of other Chow vehicles, like his James Bond-inspired romp From Beijing with Love and the costumed Royal Tramp...

Review: Rightly or wrongly, Forbidden City Cop has been purported as a period set, semi-sequel to Chow’s From Beijing with Love. Like FBWL the film does have a Bond-style title sequence with a comic twist. Other similarities include Chow’s inclusion in events only as the last resort of his superiors (in this case the Emperor), as well as his character's affinity for gadgets. Chow’s character name is Ling Ling-fat, which effectively translates as 008. Fat, meaning good fortune, which sounds like bat. This is Cantonese for 'eight' and is therefore considered a lucky number. This is also a progression from his name in FBWL which is Ling Ling-chai which sounds like 007. While these similarities to FBWL generally end here, the film itself makes reference to various other martial arts film events and styles. The opening sees Fat interrupt and attempt to arrest the famous Gu Long novel sword masters Yip Koo-sing and Sai Mun-chui as they meet atop the Emperor's palace for their long-awaited duel (see The Duel). Fat cheekily accuses them of disturbing the peace and being too old and ugly to consider themselves swordplay heroes. Fans of The Bride with White Hair will recognize the idea of the Siamese twins villains while action director Poon Kin-gwan mimics the Ching Siu-tung-esque swordplay style prevalent in the early 1990s, complete with dramatic camera work and whooshing sound effects.

The action in the film clearly takes a backseat to the comedy and apart from where the three main imperial guards are killed, the action is made up from purely wires and explosions of chi as opposed to traditional kung fu. As with many Chow Sing-chi films, the characters either have the ‘highest level’ of martial arts (i.e. chi-based where no physical contact is necessary) or in Fat’s case none at all, leaving him to make do with his inventions, quick thinking and good old fashioned, repetitive beating. Much of the action is played for laughs. The magnet duel is as bizarre as it sounds while the long-term practicing of ‘No Face’ stance has in fact literally left the villain with no face. The scene mentioned earlier, where the guards protecting the Emperor are being slaughtered, uses cutaways to great comedic effect. Upon each death the film cuts to Fat enjoying a care free, day out with his wife. For example, as one guard is about to have his head caved in, the film cuts to Fat cheerfully smashing open a watermelon, blissfully ignorant of the peril faced by the other guards and the Emperor.

Fat’s position in the Emperor's guard is one he inherited and he is not particularly welcome by either the Emperor or the other guards. His actual profession is a gynecologist while he spends his spare time inventing and making scientific discoveries. His inventions make up a lot of the film's early visual gags, such as the ‘oral cannon’ which grotesquely swells his human guinea pig’s mouth and the rodent-powered sex machine complete with manual gear shift. Aside from the action and the comedy, perhaps surprisingly one of the prime enjoyments of the movie is Chow’s chemistry with on screen wife Carina Lau. The film more than adequately sets up Fat as the happily married husband through several charming, but never soppy, scenes where he and his wife play fight, argue and make up. The two demonstrate a genuine on screen chemistry and are totally convincing as a couple, which pays off later when Fat is forced to visit the brothel and is subsequently tempted into an affair with the sensual Gum Tso (Carmen Lee).

For all of Chow’s clever wordplay, Forbidden City Cop is an amusing film with enough visual gags to entertain this non-Cantonese-speaking reviewer. The film also contains enough, albeit minimal, fantasy martial arts to maintain most fight fans' interest. I should underline that Forbidden City Cop is primarily a comedy and that traditional kung fu film fans seeking a little comic relief would be better served by the likes of Jackie Chan or Sammo Hung. Fans of wuxia pien however should enjoy recognizing the various genre traits replicated and riffed here. Strangers to Chow’s comedy will have to make a few concessions, Stephen Chow’s ‘Mo lei tau’ (make no sense) humor is called such for good reason. Conventional plotting is often given over to a sometimes incoherent structure of farcical surprises and bizarre occurrences and Forbidden City Cop is no exception. Only in a Chow Sing-chi movie could the grand showdown with the main villain be interrupted by a spontaneous awards ceremony for the film's players. For me though the film actually made more sense than some of the traditional wuxia films that Forbidden City Cop references.