Fun and Fury (1992)

Not a DVD you would ever pick up looking at the cover, or from seeing the name in a list. However, look at the credits and see that Frankie Chan directs and Fung Hak-On action directs and you know it's going to be a winner. Even with Leon Lai in the lead role :-/

Leon is a cop from Singapore who wants to marry the lovely Vivian Chow, and heads off to Hong Kong with her in order to meet her father (Kent Cheng). Trouble is, Kent is a triad boss and doesn't really want a cop in the family. His devious barrister/right hand man hatches a range of plans to split them up, which test the couple's love. We're saved from it turning into a romantic comedy by the appearance of Smiling Tiger (Norman Tsui), a villain in the best James Bond tradition, who wants Leon and all around him dead as revenge for his brother's earlier (unexplained) death.

The basic concept of the story is... unlikely :) But under Frankie's hand it remains playful and fun, even when it's being dramatic or melodramatic it doesn't take itself too seriously. Leon gets a lot of flak as an actor, but doesn't do too badly here - perhaps his voice double spices up the performance. He certainly can't compare to Frankie's charisma though, or the lovely Sharon Kwok. Or anybody else in the cast for that matter, but that's because it's a good cast.

The movie has all the right ingredients, woven into a quite tasty whole. The action scenes are the sweetest parts of the mix - very nicely choreographed by the god-like Fung Hak-On (sadly not reprising his classic "bad guy's henchman no. 2" role in this movie). You'll even believe Leon Lai is a kung fu master, really you will :) The action escalates to progresively insane levels as the situation gets more serious, with Smiling Tiger's henchman apparently having pick-pocketed an entire army some time recently. The best fight of the bunch is Frankie's brutal showdown with cute blonde gwai-lo villain Kim Marie Penn (?), despite some visible wires breaking the mood a little.

Not a revolutionary movie or a deep one, but definitely an entertaining one!