| Fritz Lang's Metropolis meet Robocop Hong Kong style which means it doesn't really resemble any of those efforts. Producers John Sham and Tsui Hark also stars as Curly and Whisky, two scientists that deprogrammers the robot Maria (Sally Yeh) to do good deeds for them instead for the evil corporation that built her. Of course, they won't get away with that and the hunt is on, lead by the human inspiration for Maria (Yeh again). Sort of tagging along yet not is a bumbling reporter played by Tony Leung Chiu-Wai.
For a Hong Kong production, the budget is up among the higher numbers but ultimately, director David Chung and all involved know that they can't make their audiences take this seriously so they don't do that themselves. This means much silly but generally fun banter between John Sham and Tsui Hark's characters, cheap special effects and a Sally Yeh forced to keep a straight face through all this. It's all very endearing and while the movie is hard to truly love, I Love Maria is easy to like.
Lam Ching Ying, Ben Lam, Paul Chun co-stars and watch out for cameos by Kirk Wong and John Woo. The end credits and Hong Kong trailer holds evidence of much footage left on the cutting room floor. The Universe dvd also features a soundtrack with many different music cues compared to the old laserdisc. For more info, check out [www.asiandvdguide.com]. |
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