After the wonderful surprise that was Shaolin Soccer, my spirits were high for King of Comedy, an earlier outing of Mr Chow’s. After having seen the movie, my feelings are mixed.

The great comedy bits are there once again: wacky dialog, funny faces, and great timing. But compared to Shaolin Soccer which was basically an action comedy this one’s a mixed bag. It starts out as a pure-breed funny film, then midway through switches into romantic mode (kinda), and the finishing act is suddenly just action. Now this isn’t opposable in itself but this time it just doesn’t work.

Two things deserve separate mention. Firstly, the movie includes an outstanding sequence, an homage to John Woo. Everything’s included: a shootout in a church with doves, slow motion, the hero toting double pistols, two people pointing guns at each other, the works. Secondly, the subtitles are even worse off than in Shaolin Soccer; they’re illegible almost 1/3 of the time. This obviously makes following the movie a bit hard.

The verdict: not as great as Shaolin Soccer, still quite watchable. Now, if my copy of God of Cookery would just arrive soon…

Rating: € € €