He Comes From Planet K (1997)



	He Comes From Planet K		Return to Review Archive - H
	AKA:	PK the Extra-Terrestrial	Eric Kot and Anita Yuen
	Year:	1997
	Director:	Joe Ma Wai-Ho
	Cast:	Eric Kot Man-Fai, Anita Yuen Wing-Yee, Nicola Cheung Sun-Yu, Cheung Tat-Ming, Stephen Fung Tak-Lun, Wyman Wong Wai-Man, Madam Nancy (Lan Sai), Law Lan, Michael Tong Man-Lung, Matthew Chow Hoi-Kwong, Bat Leung-Gum
	The Skinny:	What the heck was this?
	Review by Kozo:	This mostly insipid comedy from Joe Ma swings from wacky to maudlin and back with little pause for breath. Eric Kot is PK, a half-breed alien birthed from earthling Nicola Cheung, who gets raped by an alien. Never mind that she shows little effect of actually being raped (this is a comedy after all), the birth of an antenna-bearing baby is enough to make her abandon PK in an alley. From there, PK adventures around, joining forces with triads, pissing off SDU cops and basically acting mentally retarded and annoying. It turns out that PK actually has supreme intelligence. That’s all well and good, but if he’s really so damn smart, then why does he act so retarded? Anita Yuen shows up as Moon, president of the local UFO club, and a rather convenient love interest for our alien protagonist. Bathroom humor and E.T./Men in Black parodies litter this film This film says Joe Ma with every sappy sentiment that crosses the proceedings. While that worked in Feel 100%, it has no place in this comedy, which should be funny and not cloyingly touching. The fact that there are two protracted tearful goodbyes tells you that they intend to milk you for every ounce of sympathy you’ve got - if you ever had any to begin with. It is nice to see Anita Yuen play a lovely, silly girl once again, but her performance is nothing new and part of an unfortunate career backslide. Eric Kot acts retarded, which is a mode that he should have left behind a couple of years back. This guy is supposed to be the next Stephen Chow, but unlike Chow he has absolutely no sense of control. Chow knows how to milk a moment for what it’s worth - Kot just cuts loose, even if no one is laughing. There are a few inspired gags but the whole of this flick rings false, which isn’t to say that the film isn’t entertaining. It is, but only as a curiosity - and if you don’t know Cantonese then the whole thing loses a star. (Kozo 1997)
	Availability:	DVD (Hong Kong) Region 0 NTSC Mei Ah Laser Widescreen Cantonese and Mandarin Language Tracks Removable English and Chinese Subtitles

		image courtesy of Mei Ah Laser Disc Co., Ltd.
back to top