| Also known as The Sting II, the hyper and dead on fun Nico Wong movie starring Andy Lau didn't make much of a blimp at the box office but for the unrelated Perfect Exchange, Wong Jing plays it "smart" and parks himself in comfortable, commercially (successful as it turns out) territory. Andy Lau is Mandy Chin, a gambler/swindler who's forced to go into prison by his opponent Lau (Wan Chi-Keung) in order to retrieve bonds Robinson (Kwan Hoi-San) has been hiding. Mandy's warden (Tony Leung Ka-Fai) tries but often fails at containing Mandy. Wong Jing echoes what is his often tried and often tired recipes but the whole contrasting package does pack a bit of funny-punch. Feeling very confident in shooting the opening gambling scenes, Wong goes on to provide a partial parody of Prison On Fire (cue cast members from that movie such as Tommy Wong and William Ho) so soon the inmates opposing Mandy Chin are more impressed with his revolving dick skills. Even Tony Leung's Chong Chor Hung becomes a disciple and a pretty good one at that so that's a taste of the lows, in this case very funny lows Wong Jing takes the movie. It helps that a performer like Tony Leung is very game and while Andy Lau is the cool presence in addition to a character rarely being in danger, he's the lesser part of the double act. It just doesn't seem like a fit to have Lau this time around in such a jarring Wong Jing film that mixes the crazy, the silly, Lau going into prison on a rape charge and various, jarring pieces of violence scattered throughout. But it's bearable and actually funny in parts so therefore great success coming from Wong Jing. Also with Liu Kai-Chi, Nat Chan, Christy Chung, Teddy Yip, Johnny Wang and Anita Lee. |
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