Cop Image (1994)



	Cop Image		Return to Review Archive - C
	\| review by Kozo \| review by Magicvoice \|
	Year:	1994
	Director:	Herman Yau Lai-To
	Cast:	Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, Andy Hui Chi-On, Linda Wong Hing-Ping, Bowie Lam Bo-Yi, Lau Kong
	The Skinny:	Amusing and unheralded action comedy starring Anthony Wong and directed by Herman Yau.
	Review by Kozo:	Anthony Wong proves his versatility by starring in this low-key action comedy about a traffic monitor who longs to be a supercop of the Jackie Chan/Mel Gibson mold. He gets his chance when he witnesses a robbery gone wrong. It seems the arresting officer (Bowie Lam) is an old friend of Wong’s - and he made off with the robbery money. Soon Wong is on Lam’s trail, along with Lam’s ex-girlfriend Linda Wong Hing-Ping and her triad boy protector (Andy Hui). This is an amusing film that pokes fun at the conventions of your typical cop flick. Wong is engaging as the somewhat dorky fellow who’s not a bad fake cop, and learned his law-enforcement techniques from Bruce Willis, Chow Yun-Fat, and Danny Lee. This isn’t a film to write home about, but it’s cheap, easy HK entertainment. (Kozo 1998)
	Alternate Review
	Review by Magicvoice:	Traffic officer Wong Ging-Sing (Anthony Wong) dreams of being a real police officer but was rejected by the academy because of his nearsighted vision. Wong is obsessed with action movies such as the Lethal Weapon series, Jackie Chan's Police Story saga, and all of the Danny Lee films. None of those cops had to wear glasses and Wong indulges his cop fantasy by removing his own glasses in a manner befitting a disguised superhero every time he is called upon to fight injustice. Wong unwittingly becomes involved with a botched robbery case in which his real cop friend Johnny (Bowie Lam) has disappeared. Wong hooks up with Johnny's ex-girlfriend Linda (Linda Wong) and loan shark Dee (Andy Hui) and convinces them that he is fact, a REAL policeman searching for his friend. They go along with him through every step of his "investigation" and it never strikes them as odd that Wong always removes his glasses in certain situations (that is, when he has to spring into "cop" action). The film goes to great lengths to parody the usual cop action films. There are several great chase scenes that have key moments that would require a Jackie Chan-type action hero to jump over a fence, or slide down a stairwell. Wong either climbs over the fence very slowly and carefully, or chickens out altogether declaring the stairwell "Too high!" There is also a great two-gun action scene styled after the John Woo/Chow Yun-Fat films. In those movies, the hero never seems to run out of bullets and slides on whereas Wong not only runs out of ammo, but also never hits a single target. He also has trouble with the sliding part and has to shuffle himself along with his feet. Cop Image even has a soundtrack reminiscent of the guitar riff heard every time Mel Gibson shows up in the Lethal Weapon series. It's nice of director Herman Yau to let Anthony Wong play a character who doesn't have to kill, dismember or rape anyone for a change. Cop Image is a sweet, funny movie and a good way to kill a couple of hours. It's even funnier if you're familiar with all the films that it spoofs. Anthony Wong himself has called it one of his favorites. (Magicvoice 2002)
	Note:	According to an interview with "Asian Cult Cinema" magazine, the scene at the end where Wong thanks everyone was so long and drawn out because the real Wong forgot to thank Danny Lee when he won the Best Actor award for The Untold Story and Lee was angry with him. This also explains the saluting Wong does throughout the film as a dig on Lee. Apparently Lee's many positive portrayals of HK cops have made him popular with the real police force, and policemen salute him all the time when they meet him in person.
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