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Review by
Calvin
McMillin: |
Hong
Kong movies, particularly B-grade ones, have an occasional
tendency to be all over the place in terms of plot,
acting and tone. Look Out, Officer!, a hijink-filled
mishmash of a film, most definitely lives up to this
bad reputation. What's amazing is it works.
Look Out, Officer! begins like a typical Hong Kong action picture. With
the aid of a good stuntman, Bill Tung Bui soars into
action as Chang Piao, a high-flying, gun-toting CID
officer with skills that could rival Jackie Chan in
his prime. As silly as that may sound, it's all played
completely straight. But unfortunately for Piao, a hood
gets the slip on him and plugs him in the head, triggering the film's first abrupt tonal shift from
bloody cop drama to farcical supernatural comedy.
In the next scene we find Piao
facing judgment in heaven. The verdict of the court
is that Piao shot himself (So much for an all-knowing
God!), a conclusion that he refuses to accept. After
pleading with the judge, Piao returns to earth to catch
his killer and clear his name in what will soon become
the umpteenth variation on Heaven Can Wait. The
film then switches its focus from Piao to Police Constable
1997, the young, ne'er do well Officer Sing (Stephen
Chow). Can you say Stephen Chow underdog comedy? I knew
you could.
Sing finds himself partnered
up with Inspector Chin (Stanley Fung), a patriarch-obsessed
cop who used to work with Piao. As one might guess,
Piao returns in ghost form to help and eventually haunt
Sing in order to convince him to solve Piao's murder.
At first, Sing blows him off. That is, until he meets
Yu (Vivian Chan), Inspector Chin's cute-as-a-button
daughter. Immediately, a deal is brokered: Piao agrees
to helps Sing win the girl of his dreams in exchange
for solving the dead cop's murder. Unfortunately for
Sing, the only clue to the killer's identity is the
villain's remarkably bad B.O. Despite his badge, Sing
does very little investigating and bumbles his way to
the insane, anything goes finale involving an evil magician
with a Prince Valiant haircut. Yeah, you read that right.
Although nowhere near
as esteemed as Chow's other films, Look Out, Officer! still contains plenty of funny moments. One inspired
bit sees Chow breaking the fourth wall by moving the
props around in a scene so the audience can't see his
private parts during a required police physical. Another
memorable bit involves Chow's character accidentally
casting a flirtation spell on himself with much amusing
and thankfully innocuous homoerotic comedy ensuing.
Amy Yip even makes a hilarious (Dare I say, titillating?)
cameo. That's not to say there aren't a few comedic
missteps. Honestly, I could have gone without seeing
the disgusting sequence where the heroes collect urine,
feces, and flatulence samples in order create a magic
charm. Sure, I may have laughed, but I can't say I'm
proud of it.
Overall though, the film hits
more than it misses. With its B-grade production
values and "let's make it up as we go along"
screenwriting philosophy, Look Out Officer! is
a better film than it has any right to be. It's fast,
funny, and even clever at times - and in the end,
what more can you ask from a comedy? (Calvin McMillin 2005) |
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