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Review
by Kozo: |
Your
insomnia cure may have arrived with Undercover
Hidden Dragon. The latest from fledgling comedy
superstar Ronald Cheng, Undercover Hidden Dragon
has a marginally clever concept in that it features
Cheng in dual roles as both the hero and the villain
of the film. Sadly, his effort gets undercut by uninteresting
storytelling and mind-numbing direction. To make matters
worse, the directors of this film were also responsible
for the sublime Beast Cops. With that sort
of pedigree, disappointment is all but guaranteed.
Cheng is Fat, a loser delivery
guy who gets drafted into a possible triad gang war.
After getting smacked by a drifting AE86 Toyota Trueno
(the first of many semi-funny but completely throwaway
jokes), Fat is approached by dopey gangster Timmy
Hung, who gives him a knife and tells him to assassinate
some evil triads. After some minor buildup, Fat charges
in with murder on his mind, only to chicken out and
run like the wuss he really is. But his attempted
homicide gets him in touch with Sharon (model Pace
Wu), the wife of mysterious gangster Wind and Fat's
former puppy love. Once upon a time, Sharon ran a
waffle stand and Fat used to drop by daily to get
his carbohydrates and ogle at her leggy form. Taking
a cue from his previous hobby, Fat spends hours outside
her apartment longing for her once more.
However, Fat has other
responsibilities besides stalking his first love.
He also runs the counter at a cyber cafe along with
portly pal Lam Chi-Chung (of Shaolin Soccer/Kung
Fu Hustle fame). There the two sit around and
verbally joust in a largely uninteresting manner,
though they do make time for a nonsensical karaoke-inspired
musical number where they sport huge afro wigs. Plot
arrives in the form of Chong Ching (Theresa Fu of
Cookies), an incredibly young police madam who leads
two equally young and attractive subordinates (Cookies
bandmate Miki Yeung, and Ella Koon). Their reason
for existence - other than to act cute and sassy - is looking for a missing undercover cop, PC147258,
and Ching thinks that it's an amnesia-suffering Fat.
Though he doesn't remember his days as a cop, Fat
is willing to play the role, especially since cooperating
allows him to hang with comely young lasses like Theresa
Fu, Ella Koon, and Miki Yeung. Luckily, Fat manages
to get close to mysterious gangster Wind (also Ronald
Cheng), who turns out to look just like Fat - except
he possess a ridiculously fey voice. With Fat's help,
can the girls bust Wind? Will Fat choose Sharon or
Ching? And, can the film actually sell the idea that
the above-described plot matters?
Unfortunately, Undercover
Hidden Dragon doesn't convince, and sometimes
even becomes interminable. The general plot is all
right, and manages some interest thanks to Cheng's
amusing dual performance, plus the surprisingly effective
action sequences. The comedy is sometimes okay too,
especially an inspired gag where Ronald Cheng and
Lam Chi-Chung engage in an extended "Masked Rider"
parody. The problem is that the film's interesting
parts are connected via many uninteresting parts,
comprising useless filler, gags that are drawn out
interminably, and long sequences of limp character
interaction. The result is a commercial comedy that's
told in a shockingly boring manner. Co-directors
Gordon Chan and Dante Lam don't seem to know how to
use Ronald Cheng, whose comic charms are largely tied
into his ego-free willingness to engage in outlandish
embarrassment. Cheng does what he can with whatever
he's given here, but Chan and Lam don't give him enough.
Despite the general silliness going on, Undercover
Hidden Dragon is simply not outlandish or extreme
enough to be that funny. It elicits giggles and the
occasional guffaw, but all-out laughter doesn't seem
to be in the offing.
The good news is the
film recovers for an amusing and even clever finale.
Some surprisingly entertaining kung-fu, the dual Ronald
Chengs, and a few well-staged jokes save the film
from being all-out terrible. The problem is the ending
only comprises a good 10% of the film, and the stuff
leading up to that borders on a complete snoozefest.
The positive side to this is the film is rarely annoying,
which is a step up from many so-called comedies from
Hong Kong Cinema years past. But if boredom is the
tradeoff, then erring on the side of annoying would
probably be preferable. Gordon Chan and Dante Lam
appear to be making a comedy, but they don't direct
the film like a comedy. Their pacing is leaden, and
the humor too inconsistent to be that funny. Too often
they seem to rely on the material to carry the film,
and since the material simply isn't that good, the
film struggles to stay amusing. Had a less refined
filmmaker directed this film, it might have been incredibly
annoying or even offensive, but at least if wouldn't
have been boring. Someday we may regret saying this,
but what Undercover Hidden Dragon really needed
was that Wong Jing touch. (Kozo 2006)
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