CONTEXTGod of Gamblers Wong Jing, 1989
I really just don't understand the rationale of making Chow Yun Fat (one of the coolest motherCINECAST!ers of all time) act all "child-like", or if you're feeling cool, full retard. It sucks! At the beginning is all smooth and wearing suits and shit, showing up at the game table ready to destroy motherCINECAST!ers - this is awesome. He has this constant smirk in his face that's just about the best thing in the film. He knows he's the shit. Then, of course, he gets hit in the head, loses his memory, and loses all cool. He's basically a little kid again. He gets picked up by Andy Lau and his crew and stuff happens. None of this is really any good, but it's all worth it just to watch Chow be a complete prick and smirk his way through the ending. what a badass.
All for the Winner Jeffrey Lau + Corey Yuen, 1990
This is a parody of
God of Gamblers. Stephen Chow plays Sing, his usual character. He comes to HK to visit his uncle. It turns out that Chow has the ability to see through objects which makes him perfectly suited to become a gambler. So, his uncle trains him to do so. This movie's pretty hilarious. There's this one part where Chow hitches a ride with this one beautiful girl and kinda finds himself in the middle of some other movie. A bunch of other people start attacking, but not before the traditional movie hero shows up and kicks ass. Chow keeps trying to fight and be the hero of the situation, but he's constantly shut down by the other guy. The most overt reference to the original film is when Man Tat Ng (this man is almost as funny as Chow) sit down and watch the original
God of Gamblers to learn about Chow Yun Fat's stylish nature. The next scene is probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Chow then tries to imitate Chow Yun Fat's badass slow mo entrance in his own way, and it's hilarious. Anyway, the whole thing is just a series of gags that don't really make any sense (like the whole taking the mole out on a date thing or that hilarious part when Ng is wearing a dress). Basically, Chow is hilarious. And this movie is way better than the original
God of Gamblers. I just wish it was more consistently hilarious.
God of Gamblers II Wong Jing, 1991
Andy Lau returns from the first
God of Gamblers film while Stephen Chow and Man Tat Ng also show up, reprising their roles from
All for the Winner. It's part spin-off part sequel. Anyway, Andy Lau has trained for an entire year under the God of Gamblers and has become the Knight of Gamblers (the literal title). Chow, feeling all poor and stuff, seeks out the God of Gamblers to gain training from him so he can start making money. The scenes where Chow and Ng are just being goofballs and have nothing to do with the plot are pretty great, but all the dumb showdowns that I guess are supposed to be the focus (even though they're still kinda fun cuz Chow gets to use his powers and illusions and stuff - it's fun - to CINECAST! shit up) are kinda underwhelming. But, still, Chow can't be denied. This guy makes the dumbest stuff be hilarious. He's always good, even if the film isn't that great.
God of Gamblers III: Back to Shanghai Wong Jing, 1991
Chow comes back to HK after training for a whole six months with the God of Gamblers. Old enemies turn up and proceed to go after him. Through some mysterious overload of crazy ass powers, he goes back in time to 1930's Shanghai, home of the triads. It seems like Chow's powers during the films have been pretty much dictated by whatever the scene calls for. He started with only the ability to look through objects, but now he can do all sorts of crazy shit. Anyway, Chow kinda falls right into the middle of triad warfare, somehow manages to fall in love with a mentally challenged Gong Li (in a dual role!) and have an awesome dance number. It also manages to bring back the awesome bodyguard dude from all the other movies back in time just to decimate some motherCINECAST!ers (seriously, how many people has this guy killed?). Is life this simple? Yes, it is.
Fist of Fury 1991 Choh Chung-Sing, 1991
This film opens almost exactly like
All for the Winner, except we're in a post-
God of Gamblers world and there's a brilliant almost
Bellboy-esque opening sequence where Chow (and Ng Man Tat) playing their characters from the
God of Gamblers spinoffs (etc) show up being all rich and famous. Great stuff.. Anyway, it turns out this new Chow has an amazingly powerful right fist, but since he's from the mainland and coming to scary HK for the first time, he's robbed by some random dude. Soon Chow beats the shit out of him and kinda sorta shacks up at his place. The film's brilliant ass spoonings, spit battles, virginity takings are kinda bogged down and made all depressing by its whole "I didn't try to rape her! it was actually that one guy who is a clearly defined "villain" dude! forgive me! whoa, what the CINECAST! is all this violence?" thingie majiggers. Very much like
Hail the Judge, the comedy is ruined by its on-a-dime switches in tone, going from ridiculously silly to all brutal melodrama in about the time it takes me to type the word SHIT.