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Review
by Kozo: |
Nobody
claimed they wanted it, but Hong Kong Cinema is giving
it to us anyway: a sequel to the 2003 surprise hit
Dragon Loaded. A quick recap: in Dragon
Loaded, wacky cop Lung Wai (Ronald Cheng) wasted
time, made some faces, kicked some butt (he was supposedly
an ace martial artist), and did nothing truly important
or interesting. He also won the the heart of cuddly
Stephy Tang despite looking like Ronald Cheng - an
impressive feat indeed. The movie scored, making Cheng
an instant comedy star. Now Cheng returns for Dragon
Reloaded, a plotless comedy sequel that hinges
on the exact same conceit as the original film. Basically,
it's all about the star. If you can't stand Ronald
Cheng, then Dragon Reloaded will not change
your mind. But if you like him, then this can be fun
stuff. Pick your side.
Lung Wai returns, along
with pals Gold (Cheung Tat-Ming) and Hei (Sam Lee),
though one wonders why they haven't been fired from
the force yet. Aside from running a station house
like a nightclub, the trio also appears on a "Hong
Kong's Most Wanted" TV show, which is little
more than another excuse to see Ronald Cheng in drag.
The trio get uprooted for the sticks when they vacation
to Golden Pond Village with former chief Tang (Tang
Chi-Fung). However, they irk the rough and tough SDU/OCB
squad, who are led by the steel-jawed Rock (James
Wong Ka-Lok). The tough cops are after a local villager
who stole a Goddess Statue, thereby bringing bad luck
to the village and annoyance to people far and wide.
During an ensuing chase, the cops almost get their
man, but Lung Wai and his pals predictably get in
the way. Rock gets pissed, and the cop trio gets punished.
Said punishment: take the
place of the local police on Golden Pond Village to
possibly find the criminal. This would imply some
sort of assignment, but by the way these guys act,
you can hardly tell that they're cops. Instead of
actual work, the trio attempt to swindle the locals,
hit on any female in sight, and basically mess around
for a good ninety minutes. The highlights: they unearth
a local ancestor for a quick Mr. Vampire reference,
incur the wrath of the ever-mischievious locals, and
engage in comic face-offs with local bully Tiger (Ken
Lo, sporting terrible sideburns). Lung Wai also attempts
to romance Miki Yeung, who takes over for Cookie bandmate
Stephy Tang as the love interest du jour. Eventually
stuff happens and the case gets solved, though actual
police work is never in evidence. If you think that
sounds like a plot, then you're an extremely forgiving
person.
Still, using most Hong
Kong comedies as evidence, it's obvious that plot
is NOT the main issue here. The point of any Ronald
Cheng comedy vehicle - and possibly any comedy directed
by Wong Jing heir-apparent Vincent Kok - is simply
shtick, shtick, and more shtick. Occasionally there
are attempts at romance or other gooey feelings, but
even then it's barely in evidence, as everything is
so broadly played by Ronald Cheng that nothing seems
to matter at all. True drama? Real emotions? Actual
tension? None of it exists because Cheng punctuates
everything with such eager-to-please comic gusto that
he's basically smacking us over the head with a giant
comedy-sized mallet. Cheng and Kok are in this for
the cheapest laughs possible, and they mine local
pop culture, old Hong Kong flicks and genres, and
out-of-nowhere gags that sometimes manage to be surprisingly
funny. Case in point: an inspired bit where the SDU/OCB
guys name their operation the "Hong Kong Film
Awards," and go by the codenames Wong Kar-Wai,
Johnnie To, Wong Jing, and Tsui Hark. It's totally
nonsensical and absolutely pointless, but hey, it's
funny.
At least, it's funny
part of the time. Comedy is hard, and again using
most Hong Kong comedies as evidence, it's nearly impossible
to hit the mark with any real consistency. Dragon
Reloaded follows suit and sometimes proves interminable
and downright uninteresting. Vincent Kok (who triple
threats as director/producer/writer) doesn't exactly
enhance his filmography, and really seems to have
lost a step from his earlier pictures (Only Fools
Fall in Love, Cause We Are So Young). Back
then, it seemed that Kok would be able to handle comedy
and occasional touches of real emotion, but his recent
output has all been on the mo lei tau side.
At the very least Kok is less annoying a director
than Wong Jing, but by the same token, his work is
less interesting, and almost bland because it doesn't
reach the extremes that Wong's work does. Wong Jing
can REALLY annoy with his work, but at least he's
reaching you. Sometimes, Kok barely does that.
But the big factor here:
Ronald Cheng. Hong Kong's comedy prince shows up in
fine form, and though he can be annoying at times,
he's really a very likable, competent comedy lead.
Cheng possesses no shame about hamming it up, and
possesses none of that pesky self-aggrandizing baggage
many stars do. Hong Kong Cinema was once popularized
by its self-effacing, likable stars, and Cheng seems
cut from the same cloth. He's still a somewhat raw
comedy performer, but he does possess enough charisma
to be both laughable and likable, and he can engage
an audience's emotions even when he's not cutting
up. Cheng is enough to make Dragon Reloaded an amusing timekiller - and the fact that the film
itself manages a few more laughs is almost a bonus.
If you're not a fan of Cheng or nonsense comedies,
then Dragon Reloaded will not convert you to
the cause. But for what it is, Dragon Reloaded is occasionally amusing and even surprising - and
really, it's hard to ask for more than that. (Kozo
2005) |
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