From Beijing with Love

Stephen Chow's James Bond parody. Together with Lik-Chi Lee he takes a pretty standard Hong Kong crime story and laces it with references to the infamous spy. It was one of the earlier Chow films I watched and really dug it the first time around. It didn't quite hold on rewatch though.

Ling Ling Chai has been working as a poor butcher for the past 10 years, but when a dinosaur head is stolen he is reactivated. He is sent to Hong Kong to find out the mysterious thief who has stolen the artifact before it gets sold off. Chai is not the most typical special agent, but his methods are pretty effective.

Chow is still great. His facial expressions, body language, and comedic timing are pretty much perfect. The film is a little low on actual gags though, and while there are some very funny ones some are a bit too expected. The presentation is also a tad disappointing. It's still a very fun comedy, just not the gem I remembered it to be.