Cat Vs. Rat: Viewer Comments

Lau Kar Leung made a departure from his often-made kung fu movies mixed with a good helping of humour and skips the fighting for more laughs. Unfortunately the humour just got old after awhile. For most of the film, the "Rat" (Alexander Fu Sheng) and "Cat" (Cheng Shao-Chiu) are long time rivals who have been taught Wushu by their Sifu (Lau Kar Leung). Each wants to be known as the best, but teacher tells them they are equals. They come up with plan after plan to learn more and thus be the "best", each more silly than the last. After a number of ways are tried to beat one another, the gag becomes monotonous. At one point Fu Sheng infuriates teacher and tricks him into teaching him more. He tries to remember and learn everything teacher does to him in order to best Cheng Shao-Chiu. But the "Cat" has a few ideas of his own. Fu Sheng's "mother" was quite entertaining, but I'm not sure if she is just a large lady or if she was wearing some padding. At times it seemed like it was not all her and I wouldn't put it past Lau Kar Leung. Gordon Liu shows up to add another element to the mix.This is not a great movie but it is certainly not terrible either. If you are looking for a nice light little comedy, look not further!

This movie is great fun, which was a bit of a surprise to me. The other reviews that I had seen said it was good but not great. Well, I beg to differ.

Right after watching this one, I also watch "The Blade" (Tsui Hark/Wing Zhao) which attempted a -deconstruction of the tried and true kung fu flick. You can see my review on that. My personal feeling is that "Cat Vs. Rat" is a more successful "de-construction" than "The Blade".

Yes, as a kung fu comedy, it works. I was never fully convinced of Alexander Fu-Sheng's comedic talents, until I watch this. With his funny facial expressions, he really pulls off the laughs. However, watching the film, I felt that it was making fun of past classics in a gentle way, that also paid homage. For example, take the classic revenge plot where a young man gets beaten, learns from a teacher, and comes back for revenge. In "Cat Vs. Rat", Fu-Sheng tries to beat his teacher, fails and then to salve his pride gets revenge on another rival, turning the convention on its head. Also, the fights revolve around, not murder, but family prestige. Watching Fu-Sheng's fat mother fling kung fu moves while pleading for victory serves to correctly trivialize the simplistic violence of pay back kung fu films. Another point is that the rival students can never truly best each other. As Fu-Sheng learns techniques to beat his rival, his rival Adam Cheng learns techniques to beat him. This endless cycle of violence is humorously pointing to the brutal avenge father/mother/brother/sister cycle of violence of traditional kung fu films.

There is another great scene, a la "Mission: Impossible", where Fu-Sheng must dangle from a rope, and steal the emperor's jade seal. The comic potential is realized to great effect, Fusheng getting entangled in the emperor's amorous embrace, while the guards keep rushing in and consistently miss all the signs of an intruder.

With Sifu Leung directing, it goes without saying that the action is done very well. Some of the scenes reminded me of "Legendary Weapons Of China", matching different weapons against each other. Another plus is the scenery and props. Did they break the budget on this? I thought it was more elaborate than "Disciples Of The 36th Chamber" or "Legendary Weapons Of China". The scenery even plays a vital role in the final battle.

The cast all seem to have a great time playing up their roles. I think you will too.