Dai Noi Muk Taam 009
2009 / 98m - Hong Kong
Action, Comedy
3.5*/5.0*
On His Majesty's Secret Service poster

Watches

October 16, 2009

3.5*/5.0*

A film that harks back to the early 90s comedies, highly reminiscent of the Stephen Chow films of that time (Royal Tramp comes to mind). Expect cross-gender dress-ups, a couple of goofy action scenes, chaos at the imperial court and an inventor with some weird machines (a direct James Bond reference).

The comedy is pretty lowbrow, but the brisk pacing and cheesy performances make sure you can't take it as anything but unadulterated fun. There's some cheap but functional CG to add to the fun, which Wong counters with some surprisingly decent shots. If you blink you probably miss them, but at least it shows effort on Wong's side.

Tracing Shadow already foreshadowed the return to the oldskool Hong Kong comedy, Jing Wong goes all the way. It can't quite compete with the best 90s comedies and like most of Jing Wong's films, it feels just a little too unfinished to be truly great, but it's a lot of fun and it flashes by in a heartbeat.