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Review
by Kozo: |
Kung
Fu Mahjong 2 is the best sequel thus far to a
film made in 2005. It's also the worst and only sequel
to a film made in 2005. Thanks to the above two statements,
everyone can win...that is, except filmgoers seeking
actual movie quality. We're stuck with a sequel to
a film that didn't need a sequel, and one that's cheaper
and more annoying to boot. Apologists will say that
the film is supposed to be that way, and indeed Kung
Fu Mahjong 2 can be funny in a lowbrow, "meets
expectations" sort of way. But really, it's not
a good movie, and it's doubtful anyone seeing it will
expect it to be good, either. To many people, movies
are junk; this movie is for those people.
Cherrie Ying is Fanny,
an extraordinarily skilled mahjong player and young
housewife, who's usually forbidden from her tile-clicking
addiction by husband Johnny (a smarmy Terence Yin).
However, when Johnny falls in with bastard gambler
Demon (Keung Ho-Man), Fanny gets sent packing. Johnny
takes up with Demon's femme fatale sister Curvy (Zuki
Lee of Slim Till Dead), and Fanny is left alone.
Worse, she seems to lose her mahjong-playing skills.
Luckily, she receives additional training from her
mahjong sifu Three Tiles (Wong Tin-Lam), who
also schooled Auntie Fei (Yuen Qiu) from Kung Fu
Mahjong 1, as well as sexy player-in-training
First Love (Tiffany Lee). With the aid of her mahjong
sisters, brother Ronaldhino (Sammy), plus Auntie Fei's
annoying husband Chi Mo Sai (Yuen Wah, also returning
from KFM1), Fanny regroups in time to take
on Curvy, Demon, and Johnnie at a climactic mahjong
tournament. Cue Kung Fu Mahjong 3.
Or maybe not. Unlike
the first Kung Fu Mahjong, KFM2 couldn't
eke out a number one box-office showing, so sequel
talk may be premature. On the other hand, KFM2
looks like it cost about $15 to make, so maybe it's
still money in the bank. Wong Jing seems wary of his
purse strings in KFM2, using cheap sets and
an even cheaper plot. Standard gags involving Cantonese
wordplay, media parodies, comic violence, and mahjong
training abound. Wong Jing specifically targets Korea
and Japan for his media gags, with stuff skewering
Kamikaze Girls, Dae Jang Geum, and Korean
megastar Rain. Comic violence shows up in the form
of First Love's patented breast-grabbing torture technique,
plus even more scenes of Yuen Qiu beating up Yuen
Wah. The mahjong training sequences are more universally-understood
than the usual primer on esoteric winning hands, though
those show up in abundance too. Be warned: knowledge
of mahjong is a necessity to enjoy Kung Fu Mahjong
2.
However, you might ignore
that warning if you like Cherrie Ying. She gets a
starring role in Kung Fu Mahjong 2, a first
for the usual Johnnie To supporting player. The actress
isn't very subtle, but she's a game performer who
manages enough girlish charm to carry the film. Tiffany
Lee shows sexiness as First Love, and Yuen Qiu and
Yuen Wah earn their paychecks sufficiently - when
they actually appear. Unfortunately, there's far too
little of the Kung Fu Hustle duo in Kung
Fu Mahjong 2, and the fight sequences have been
reduced to quick bathroom-set beatings. Instead, we
get plenty of Cherrie Ying, plus an enlarged role
for Sammy (the clear front-runner for 2005's "Most
Annoying" award) and off-color racial jokes masquerading
as humor. The final mahjong competition features an
international collection of foes, including an Indian
who smells of curry and uses his feet to play, and
an Italian imaginatively named "Mr. Spaghetti."
There's even a Muay Thai mahjong guru called Tony
Jaa-Jaa. On a culturally-insensitive level, the above
can be funny, but from a creativity standpoint it's
the height of laziness.
Of course, this is Wong
Jing we're talking about, so laziness is standard
operating procedure. The auteur even returns as villain
Tin Kau Gor, though apparently everyone has forgiven
him from the first film. Tin Kau Gor shows up in time
for Fanny to triumph in the final mahjong battle -
which is a spoiler only if you're expecting some sort
of risky filmmaking from Wong Jing. No dice. This
is as by-the-numbers as Hong Kong Cinema gets nowadays,
which means the film meets expectations with all the
excitement of a wet dishrag. Depending on who you
are, this movie is cheap, easy fluff that can be funny
on occasion, or standard, uninspired crap from a filmmaker
who seems to have run out of ideas. Take your pick
as to which definition suits the film best; either
way, Kung Fu Mahjong 2 will never win any awards.
And if it does, I'll eat a bug. (Kozo 2005)
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