Wong Jing

Wong Jing’s new film tells the story of the birth of Hong Kong’s Independent Commisson Against Corruption (ICAC), mixing fictional characters with some true life events.
I Corrupt stars Eason Chan, Anthony Wong Alex Fong and Tony Leung Ka-Fai (Wong Jing also stars as the excellent Mr Gold) and could well be the first Wong Jing film to have widespread critic appeal.

Wong Jing goes back to the old school with “On his Majesty’s Secret Service” a truly madcap period set comedy in the classic early 1990s style. Although the master of the form himself, Stephen Chow, isn’t starring in such films anymore, there’s certainly no reason to stop making them, and in his absence, Louis Koo has stepped up to the plate, accompanied by a great cast of Hong Kong and Mainland stars including Barbie Hsu, Tong Dawei (“Red Cliff II”), Song Jia (“Curiosity Killed the Cat”), Liu Yang (“Bullet & Brain”), Fan Siu Wong (recently in “Ip Man”) and even veteran genre favourite Sandra Ng.

Set in World War II, Casino Tycoon chronicles the story of Benny, a young graduate played by Andy Lau, who flees Hong-Kong during the Japanese invasion and heads for gambling haven Macau. Once in Macau, he impresses a local business man who has ties to organised crime, he slowly builds his way up in the ranks of the Macau underworld which ultimately leads to trouble.

Wong Jing's latest effort is a bizarre gangster comedy that flirts with also being a psychological thriller, before settling into more comfortable triad territory. Nick Cheung plays Fai, a triad hitman coming to the end of a 30-year stretch in the big house for slaughtering 20 rival gang members in a street fight. Upon release, Fai and his trusty sidekick Little Fai, return to their old stomping ground of Mongkok only to discover that the entire district been renovated and rejuvenated beyond recognition, and his old gang are eagerly awaiting his help to settle a territory dispute.

A beautiful young actress Ti Yun (Michelle Reis) wants an audience with Hsin, and soon they become more than just good friends. Hsin's crippled wife (Chingmy Yau) actually encourages this relationship. The Ho's two kids Tien Erh and Tien Pao (Taiwanese actress Vivian Chan and Grasshopper member Edmund So) have just come back from Hawaii along with Erh's boyfriend Cheng Chen (another Grasshopper member Remus Choi). Nieh has his relative Ta Tung (yet another Grasshopper member Calvin Choi) accompany him everywhere. The combination of all of these people lead to a tale of greed, power, death, fighting, car chases, vulgar and dirty talk, and even incest. Intertwined in all this is quite a bit of comedy, especially from Hsin's assistant Kao Ming (Hui Siu Hung) and his girlfriend/Hsin's maid Hsien.

The plot is pretty standard fare: guy with power (our hero) and his uncle gets sent back in time to 1937 Shanghai (from 1991 Hong Kong) when a group of super-powered "gamblers" (I guess), decides to whack him for him beating one of them in a gambling boat (or something). I don't speak Chinese, so I had to rely on the subtitles, and most of the times the titles (being in white font) clashes with the video background, hence making reading it impossible, so I'm just summing up as best as possible.
But the real treat of GOG3 isn't the plot – like all HK action fare, the plot is secondary to the stunts. Needless to say, our hero must find a way home, but along the way, gets in the middle of history. Standard Back to the Future stuff, except with Chinese gamblers with psychic powers instead of a sports car.

Kung fu master Alexander Fu Sheng stars as Romantic Sheng in this slight comedy about Hong Kong's most notorious lothario. Sheng's free-lovin' shenanigans are hampered when his mother shows up unexpectedly along with her business-like nurse Mei (Cherie Chung Cho-hung), demanding that he settle down and marry a woman of her choosing. Not letting filial ultimatums get in the way of his womanizing, Sheng tries to court a beautiful actress by pretending that he's blind. When that inevitably fails, he pursues another lass who not only is being also courted by middle-aged stud but who is also protected by a hateful chaperon. Later, Sheng inevitably finds true love has been literally staring him in the face all along. This film proved to be Alexander Fu Sheng's last film; he died in a car wreck not long after the shoot.

Director: Gordon Chan, Wong Jing
Starring: Stephen Chow Sing-Chi, Ng Man Tat, Cheung Man, Barry Wong, Roy Cheung

Shaolin Soccer and Kungfu Hustle, well received both locally and abroad, paved the way for Stephen Chow to become an international comedy star. Indeed his profile in Hong Kong grew to astounding proportions during the early nineties. In Fight Back to School and its sequel, his representative films during that period, he plays a cop disguising as a high school kid to investigate hidden crimes, and in the course generates tons of jokes to amuse his fans! In Fight Back to School III he continued his role as an undercover, but this time, disguised as a rich man.

A good many memorable quotes from Stephen Chow indeed come from Fight Back to School I & II, both directed by the awarding-winning director Gordon Chan. Hong Kong Filmmaker Wong Jing, famous for creating hilarious comedies, not only writes the script for Fight Back to School but also directs Fight Back to School III. Stephen Chow's long collaborator Richard Ng Man Tat, of course, cannot be absent from the trilogy. Chow's romance with gorgeous actress Sharla Cheung enriches all three films. Fight Back to School III also stars the late super star Anita Mui as a rich man's wife while Chow pretends to be her husband. Now is the time to enjoy the jokes created by such a glamorous cast!

This cheap Wong Jing-produced triad flick is a surprisingly watchable guilty pleasure. Nothing new happens here, but that's just fine. Featuring a righteous Jordan Chan and plenty of cheesy CGI blood. 'Nuff said.

Director: Jing Wong
The first installment of a two-part crime epic from Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Jing, the meandering and complicated Casino Tycoon chronicles the life of Benny Ho Hsin (Andy Lau from Casino Raiders), a poor boy who has risen to the top of his college class and won prizes for his academic diligence. He has also made an enemy, the nasty Fu Chia-chin (Wilson Lam) who is jealous of Benny and wants his girlfriend Vivian (Joey Wang)…