Stephen Chow v. Stephen Chow!Forbidden City CopA slight take off of Bond films, Forbidden City Cop is a silly comedy with a couple decent characters. Ling Ling Fat (which means 008) is a pretty useless bodyguard for the Emperor, having the temperament of Bond's Q rather than the famous spy himself. In fact, he is such an anti-Bond, that he has a wonderful relationship with his wife, and refuses to look at any other woman. That is, until the Emperor commands him to investigate a famous foreign prostitute to see if he is an appropriate companion for the Emperor. 008 then becomes so in-fat-uated with her that he swipes a generous gift to his wife in order to give it to the prostitute.
There are some marvelous aspects of this movie. The relationship between 008 and his wife is well played and truly both touching and funny, but not silly. It was just enjoyable to watch. In fact, my favorite character is certainly Carina Lau, whose acting is marvelous here. Also, while most of the film was played out pretty obviously, there were a couple surprises that I truly didn't expect. It was nice to see a somewhat low-brow comedy have some good turns to it.
However, I found myself often wishing that it had been played as a straight forward James Bond spoof. Certainly the opening title credits was an excellent spoof, and the inventions scene had Bond written all over it. But that was pretty much it. I have to say, if it was just a James Bond spoof, it wouldn't have had the wonderful acting, but there was so much they could have done... I highly recommend it, and then you decide yourself. 4/5
Flirting ScholarTong Pak Fu seems to have everything going for him. He's the most important scholar in China. He's the greatest painter and the best poet. He has eight beautiful wives. However, he has two sorrows. His brother who is constantly asking for money, which he immediately spends. And his eight wives are selfish, never wanting to spend time with him or to pay attention to his interests, but only wanting to gamble. What to do? Of course, he gets away from his wives and looks for another woman to court. And he has one big secret: he is also an expert in... kung fu!
Okay, it's just silly. The situations are ridiculous and the set ups are just Chinese sit-com. However the gags are executed brilliantly. I haven't laughed out loud so much at a film since
the Passion of the Christ the last Marx Brothers movie I saw. The mock kung fu scenes were well done, but the comic timing was brilliant. There's really not much to say. It's not like it's a top 100 or have any depth to it. It's just hilarious. Nothing wrong with that. 4/5
Verdict:This is really tough. The softening of the comedy in Forbidden City Cop was really well done in the marital relationship, but in the end it was an uneven film. I have to place my vote with
Flirting Scholar. It was just laugh out loud funny throughout the whole film, which is what it intended to produce. However, I really do recommend both films.