They Came To Rob Hong Kong (1989)

Roy Cheung is a ruthless criminal on the mainland, whose operation is efficiently dismantled by a team of cops led by Kara Hui. He escapes arrest and decides to put together a new crew for an even more ambitious mission - see the title for further details.

The team he assembles is a ragtag bunch, to say the least, and they spend much of the film getting into ridiculous misadventures that have little to do with the nominal plot, until it is brought back around at the end to tie things up.

As a Cinema City production and the only writing credit for "Dean Shek Creative Team" you can safely assume that the film is a comedy, first and foremost, with that distinctly Hong Kong style of irreverent nonsense and absurdity. It's a lot like the Lucky Stars films in many respects, such as the presence of Eric Tsang and Stanley Fung. The cast is actually pretty stacked, though some of its heavy hitters like Kara Hui have limited roles - basically only appearing in the action scenes that bookend the film, which go way harder than they have any need to - you can tell they basically subcontracted Philip Kwok, told him "we need some action scenes for the film" and left him to it.

Clarence Fok brings an eye for stylish cinematography to the proceedings and directs efficiently without inserting too much of himself into it - a director for hire rather than the primary author. Whilst the film has certain similarities to Black Panther Warriors in the setup it is nowhere near as extravagant and deranged.

It's clear that the creative direction for the film was provided by Dean Shek in this case, who also inserts himself as the most prominent member of the ensemble cast. This is a natural source of trepidation but the film is far from the worst example of his particular schtick - the ensemble nature of proceedings keeps him in check, or perhaps its just Sandra Ng.

Overall this is quite an entertaining film that effectively captures that chaotic energy of 80's Hong Kong comedies, where you never know quite what to expect. Come for the brutal action scenes, stay for Chingmy Yau's adorable smile - or vice versa.