Look Out, Officer!: Reviews

Look Out, Officer! centers around a young police cadet (Stephen Chow) who is haunted by his superior's (Stanley Fung) dead partner (Bill Tung). Chow is too spooked to work with the ghost at first, but after Tung promises that he'll help him woo Ng's comely daughter (Vivian Chan), Chow agrees to help get revenge on the drug smuggler that killed Tung. The only catch is, no one else can see Tung, and everyone around starts to think Chow is going crazy.

This early starring effort from Stephen Chow was done before his working with Wong Jing and the full fleshing out of his style of "nonsense" comedy. As such, viewers who have only experienced his later films like Shaolin Soccer might be disappointed, as the movie has a style and tone much closer to the comedies of the 1980's done by the other two stars of this film, Bill Tung and Stanley Fung -- whose careers were on the decline just as much as Chow's was in ascension at this point in history. That's not to say that Chow doesn't put on a good effort here. But, for the most part, he actually plays the straight man and is the subject (rather than the instigator) of many of the movie's jokes.

Still, there are some pretty funny segments, such as when Chow tries to avoid a doctor who gets a little too "hands-on" with his patients, and a wonderful (but painfully short) cameo from Amy Yip as the object of Stanley Fung's lascivious attention. Some of the comedy goes a bit too far into the toilet humor territory, most notably a sequence where Chow and Fung must get a virgin's urine, a cat's feces and "a genie's fart". I'm sure that last part puzzled you as it did me -- like most Stephen Chow movies, subtitles aren't exactly the best way to "get" a lot of the jokes. Semantics aside, do we really need to see Chow getting soaked by an old woman's pee while he holds a cup under her (thankfully clothed) crotch? And more importantly, do we really need to see a close-up of a cat taking a crap twice in one movie? I think not.

Yes, I know that I've given expolitative "trash" like Naked Weapon high marks, so the previous statement might come off as odd, but this segment almost threatens to derail the movie. Look Out, Officer! does redeem itself at the end with a decent action sequence, which manages to still be exciting and funny despite having some of the worst "special" effects this reviewer has ever seen. Overall, this is by no means Chow's best work, but it is well-done for the most part, and fans of his should enjoy it.

Plot: Veteran Cop, Biu (Bill Tung) finds out he has bitten off more than he can chew when he attempts to apprehend a group of thugs making drugs in a warehouse. Biu seem's to have the upper hand until someone shoots him from behind.

Since he never seen the face of his killer, the judge in heaven agree to let him into heaven if he admits his cause of death was Suicide, not murder. Biu can't let this lie, so he convinces the judge to let him return to the world and find his savour to avenge his death!

Rookie Cop Sing (Stephen Chow) turns out to be savour to Biu and boy he isn't pleased. Biu decides to help Sing out by helping him win the heart of Ah Yuk (Vivian Chow), his bosses daughter.

His Boss, Li Kam (Stanley Fung) was Biu's old partner and he's seems to be the keen praying to the gods, giving him some nifty powers. For example his super stretchy arms!

Sing soon discovers that Biu's killer is the local gangster Lee Tang-Yang! Now with the killer discovered Sing and Kam must help Biu settle his debt with Yang, but it turns out Yang has something up his sleeve..

Review: Lau Sze-Yu delivers a delightful Supernatural Cop/Comedy with Hong Kong's King of Comedy - Stephen Chow. Equipped with the lovable Bill Tung and the grumpy Stanley Fung nothing can go wrong.

Any familiar faces? Sex and Zen beauty Amy Yip makes a brief appearance as Kam's Superior. When Kam takes all the credit for a drug bust done by Sing, Uncle Biu casts a Lewd Spell (Love Spell) on Yip and she is all over Kam like butter on toast! Yet having your busty boss all over you doesn't sound that bad, until the spell wears off and she kicks his ass for groping her!

The film could go along similar terms with Ricky Lau's "Where's Officer Tuba?" starring Sammo Hung and David Chiang. Both movies have a fight where the ghost helps the lead to do these magnificent flying moves, scaring the crap out of the enemy! Both that probably is the only similarities between the movies.

Final thought a decent comedy film which should delight any Chow Sing-Chi fan!

Highlights

The Cleaner knocking off Sings head!
Sing having dinner with Kam and Yuk
Sing's first date with Yuk
Kam being 'tempted' by his Superior
Sing's introduction
Sing sniffing peoples arm pits
Biu battling Yang's thugs
Sing casting the Lewd Spell on himself
Sing acting like a cat