Quick and dirty recommendation: Stephen Chow’s Forbidden City Cop might be a parody of martial arts films but for its loving deployment of fighting styles and mythologies; it slips into exceedingly silly slapstick but then, effortlessly, shows a formal self-reflexivity that seems far more attentive. And I laughed a lot. Chow plays a secret police agent for the Emperor, circa 1890s China. It’s got about 13 forms of chop-socky, some recognizable from the genre and some dreamed up by Chow for this film (Flying Fairy being one of my favorites). There’s a running set of gags riffing on James Bond, extraterrestrials, Chinese medicine, and crossdressing. Not quite the equal of his Shaolin Soccer or Kung Fu Hustle, but well worth watching–even for those uninterested in martial arts action flicks, you’d dig this.
I’m no copyright lawyer, and I haven’t followed disputes between studios over the James Bond franchise. But how come Stephen Chow can play more of the James Bond theme music in this movie than could be used in the recent remake of Casino Royale?
i watched this a couple of nights ago. the craziest film i’ve seen in a very long time, but ridiculous, good fun indeed. i loved that james bond parody over the opening credits.
This trailer for new Chow film is pretty damn funny.
This one is even better. Can I tag along with Max?