A trilogy of short stories, containing farce-takes on love and sex, all starring a mostly unbearable Lo Yuen. In "Till We Meet Again", he's a playboy who makes a bet with his friends (one played by Karl Maka) that he will score with a particular beauty within 24 hours. The poor man's Michael Hui in the form of lead Lo goes to work by assaulting and trying to drug the victim of his bet. Some bad taste rears its head indeed and not an ounce of humour, much of which can be applied to the second 30 minute skit "Heart On Her Undies" as well. Here Lo is a race horse broadcaster with women lining up to bed him and his heart-undies. One scene sees Lo basically raping one of the women as someone off-screen is instead describing how to deal with a pig. This bad taste coupled with penis jokes and a Benny Hill emulated score, doesn't fly. Reportedly John Woo handled the last segment called "Little Men's Big Hopes" and here things start to finally get good and bearable. Lo Yuen plays a husband under strict control of his wife and he decides to hire an assassin to kill her. Lo chooses to set the traps himself and of course this backfires. Many surreal tangents and Lee Hoi-Sang as the deranged, very braindead assassin gets this often black and exaggerated short deserved laughs. Lo Yuen is now a bearable poor man's Hui and echoes of what was to come in Woo's filmography can be picked up upon if you will. Such as guns being hidden in pots and the general dark tone to the comedy that become a huge tangent of From Riches To Rags.

Having so much wrong with it yet succeeding fairly well, it's that pesky Hong Kong multi-mood cinema working its magic again for those who can accept such an attack on the senses. Blending clownish comedy, romance, ghost story with a rape revenge thriller, Jamie Luk's (The Case Of The Cold Fish) film is as light as it sounds and as dark as it sounds. Thankfully. May (a smokin' and dedicated Anita Lee) is a prostitute with both a sick mother (Helena Law) and son to look after. After being raped and accidentally killed by a group of construction workers (William Ho, Peter Chan Lung, Kwai Chung and James Ha), her ghostly self takes over the phone lines to execute revenge. All while her neigbour, cop Ma (Lau Ching-Wan) worries about his own romantic exploits and now the well being of May's mother and son...

When it succeeds, the low budget atmosphere actually manages to go the dark, foreboding and felt places it wants to. It's a joy to root for May as she viciously gets even. Before we're prepared for the mixture however, it's almost nauseating getting slapped in the face with the clownish (more like retarded) antics of Lau Ching-Wan's co-workers while being faced with the darkness where Anita Lee really gets abused to hell and back (literally). Even gay-jokes are areas Jamie Luk happily engages in but Hello! Who Is It? eventually benefits from the main story focus which makes the dedication to create that particular mood pay off in exciting ways. William Ho is deliciously evil while Derek Yee and Ivy Leung appear in cameos.

It's sad to see expected familiarity taking such a nosedive in quality. Hong Kong horror and comedy mixed together quite often meant a few minutes of film would be fast paced and contain a unique Eastern sensibility/creativity to remember (and therefore earning the movie a place in a collection). No such thing in Yuen Cheung-Yan's Police Academy emulation Hong Kong style with a twist of The Haunted Cop Shop II, only minus the talents of Jeff Lau. With an intriguing, pixilated still on the back of the dvd, this seems to promise some nastiness eventually at the end of the rainbow but after trainees (such as Sandra Ng, Billy Lau, Charlie Cho and Andy Hui) womanize, play around, get disciplined by Wu Fung etc, director Yuen begins to showcase what an empty tank he's got. Whenever there's possession, animated special effects and the likes, the usually dependable Hong Kong cinema has no energy to offer up to salvage what's been ruined by the often intolerable skits prior. You'll remember a frame or two such as Charlie Cho biting Andy Hui's nipples and a commendable fire stunt at the end. But no brisk energy or nastiness as promised surfaces. Just another sad, forgettable copy of a copy of a copy. Also with Walter Tso and Kingdom Yuen as the ghost.

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One of if not THE finest hour for extraordinary comedienne Carol Cheng, the performance here as a highly patriotic Mainland Chinese security officer Cheng Shih Nan earned her the Best Actress statuette at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 1991. Alongside her partner (played by director Alfred Cheung), she tries to re-capture an escaped prisoner (Michael Chow) while trying to understand the ways of and co-operate with the Hong Kong police. She strikes up a more deep bond with the officer Kuo (Tony Leung Ka-Fai)...

Injecting a professionalism by the use of synch sound, Alfred Cheung's finer points in the comedic interplay between the Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong characters might not get across but a basic understanding of the different mind sets is enough to appreciate Cheung's funny scenarios here. This includes a political singing match up between the respective sides in the conflict. In this case between Leung's father, played by a terrific Lam Kau and the Mainland duo. Cheng's famous rapid fire delivery gets ample time to shine and she embodies the not so always feminine and dedicated Cheng Shih Nan wonderfully well, even nailing a felt emotional core of the film she shares with straight man Leung. Brewing underneath are serious considerations about why the two sides can't come to terms at this point in time. All well handled and injected into an entertaining package by director Alfred Cheung who also lets Chin Ka-Lok action directing talents speak volumes at appropriate times. Also with Lam Chung, Sunny Fang, Emotion Cheung, Deon Lam, Sai Gwa Paau and Walter Tso (Carol Cheng's real life father).

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Mainland Public Security Officer Cheng (Carol Cheng) returns for more Hong Kong adventures and so did the movie going audiences. Alfred Cheung tampers little with the skit formula that includes the presentation of different rationales in the Mainland and Hong Kong camps plus the portrayal of how communism has not embraced modern aspects such as credit cards. While Cheng's act is largely about repeating same mannerisms from the first film, she brings an infectious aura to even the silliest of comedy. Even when doing the age old fish out of water skits, the tone remains fun. What the film doesn't have are the finer points of Her Fatal Ways that did travel and is obviously very local in intent. Adding Michael Chow as a kung-fu assistant and more of Alfred Cheung's ESP is a recipe for fair success throughout the globe though. Deon Lam handles the small but very welcome pieces of action. Also with Waise Lee, Fruit Chan and Lam Kau, reprising his dead on role.

The box-office dropped and one of the great sparks alongside Carol Cheng in the sequel, Michael Chow didn't return for this third installment of Public Security Officer Cheng's adventures across Asia. Co-star and director Alfred Cheung again doesn't put forth anything new within the formula but does alienate the Western audiences this time around (although the vehicles were never designed purely for us). Much of Cheng's rampant patriotism is similar but Carol Cheng somehow makes it more irritating this time around. On the other hand, the play on words may actually be the most clever the series has ever seen. Again, it's local in intent.

The out of touch Mainlanders does get various scenarios to showcase just that, including the sight of Cheng adapting her wear to the beach and the tennis court. When in those moments with the brilliant Carol, it's comforting to be part of Her Fatal Ways III. The final commentary that Cheng should perhaps not be as intensely bound to her China serves as a nice unification message and makes the film finally worthy. Do consider it to be the third in terms of series quality though. Also with Anthony Wong, Chan Chung-Yung, Dion Lam and Michael Lee (Cageman).

The final installment however juuust edges out Her Fatal Ways III in terms of quality as Cheng is taken down a few notches to earth. Now adapting fully to life as a Hongkie (having chosen the English name Senyelgit), she falls in love with her Scottish neighbour (Gregory Charles River, one of the most solid Western actors ever to appear in a Hong Kong film) and is prepared to sacrifice her virginity. It seems however that the gwailo neighbour has a hidden agenda...

Carol Cheng and Alfred Cheung engage in fun banter and attempted English language delivery while then Cheng tries her luck in a variety of jobs, messing up in her always over-examining ways. Carol continues to sell the various sketches that make up the narrative before the plot kicks in and is quite delightful when her girly innocence is revealed in the face of love. Now and again director Alfred Cheung reminds us that Cheng kicks ass too so working with Dion Lam there are a few dependable ventures into this territory. Her Fatal Ways IV is very light though and even though politics are at center, there's expectedly not much impact left to be made after the brilliant first movie. Also starring Sandra Ng.

Her Name Is Cat represents some sort of attempt by producer Wong Jing and director Clarence Fok to once again bring to life all the hoo-haa surrounding their cult Cat III effort Naked Killer. Utilizing once again poster art with an alluring leading lady (Almen Wong) in an outfit that never appears in the film and assassin plots with this time only slight lesbian undertones results in something not so difficult to achieve; a better film than Naked Killer.

Her Name is Cat is still terribly hollow and ordinary. Wong Jing can at the best of times inject something akin to fresh coming from him (Colour Of The Truth) but his script here is just a mish-mash of worn clichés. The assassin with a conscience, the cop losing his family because of ruthless dedication to work, themes of redemption, loneliness and then to top it all off, an action finale set in a church. Simply put, Clarence Fok and Wong Jing are not the people who can rise above these clichés and stand out in a crowd. Fok's overbearing style and the overall cinematography quickly becomes bothersome and while effort exist to make a thoroughly serious film, scenes trying to come off as poignant ends up as unintentionally funny instead. Fok can make his style work but it's rare (see Remains Of A Woman). The story holds potential no doubt but you'd better employ better makers and performers to realize that. Almen Wong admittedly is fairly effective as the emotionally cold but lonely assassin but Michael Wong only goes through his motions. Meaning half his dialogue in English and acting being generally wooden. At least he has the best line of the film, which turns out to be incredibly true:

"It'll be like a second class movie for god's sake!"

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Time travel adventure with Tony Leung Chiu-Wai as Ching dynasty womanizer Wai Siu-Bo (the character he played on TV and Stephen Chow did as well in the Royal Tramp movies) who's given the mission to travel 300 years ahead in time to find a virgin for the ailing emperor (Ken Tong). He meets a cop played by Dicky Cheung and already there the movie blows...

It's funny though because if you make a list of all craziness within Hero - Beyond The Boundary Of Time (Dicky Cheung with a massive hard on being one item from that list), it looks like it's a gem of "only in Hong Kong" proportions but director Blackie Ko manages to generate the side effect of annoyance instead. The odd bit from Tony Leung Chiu-Wai is amusing and the high flying action towards the end sees us experiencing the only energy the film has. Other than that, it's a long 97 minutes. Also with Ng Suet-Man and Veronica Yip.

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