| This extremely popular comedy from Jeff Lau and Corey Yuen
became the highest grossing film in HK history and launched
the career of Hong Kong’s most loveable superstar. Thanks
to his performance as a God of Gamblers wannabe, Stephen
Chow became the biggest box office draw of the nineties.
The plot of this wackfest concerns
Sing (Chow), a dumb, lovable, and superpowered mainlander
who comes to China to visit his uncle Tat (Ng Man-Tat). At
first he only gets on Tat’s nerves, but when it’s revealed
that he can see through objects, Tat gets some funky ideas.
He employs Chow as “Do Sing,” or the “Saint of Gambling,”
and proceeds to set him loose on the gambling world.
Sing ends up making a ton of bucks
at the gambling tables and attracts the attentions of two
rival gamblers (Paul Chun and Jeff Lau). Sing falls in with
Lau, but Chun does his best to make sure Sing won’t succeed
in the “King of Gamblers” competition. Meanwhile, Sing falls
for Yee-Mong (Cheung Man), gangster moll and tough-as-nails
double-agent.
This film is uneven, featuring more
untranslatable jokes than Chow’s next twelve films combined.
Thankfully, Chow showed his superstar talent at this early
stage; you can get by thanks to his hilarious delivery and
winning physical comedy. The chemistry between Chow and Ng
Man-Tat is evident even at this early stage in their partnership.
A fun film. (Kozo 1996) |
