Mo jong yuen So Hak-Yi (1992)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Gordon Chan

Writers:

Kin Chung Chan (writer) &
Gordon Chan (writer)

Release Date:

17 December 1992 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Comedy

Plot:

The spoilt son of a millionaire finds the love of his life, but she will only accept him if he proves himself as a kung-fu master...

Plot Keywords:

Beggar | Millionaire | Riches To Rags | Slapstick | Kung Fu Comedy

Awards:

6 nominations

Cast

Stephen Chow	...	So Chan / So Hat-Yi / Beggar So (as Sing-chi Chow)
Sharla Cheung	...	Yu-Shang (as Man Cheung)
Man Tat Ng	...	General So (as Mang-tat Ng)
Norman Chu	...	Chiu (as Siu-keung Chui)
Wai Lam	...	Seng Ko Lin-Chin
Chung Wang	...	Uncle Mok (as Chung Wong)
Wai Yee Chan	...	Yu-Shang's sister
Pak-cheung Chan	...	Minister of Justice
Lawrence Cheng	...	Professor (as Tan-shui Cheng)
Matthew Wong	...	Emperor (as Hin-mung Wong)
Peter Lai	...	Uncle Cheng (as Bei-dak Lai)
King-Tan Yuen	...	Madam Pimp
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mi Yang	...	So Chan's daughter
Cheung-Yan Yuen	...	Hung Yat-San

Also Known As:

King of Beggars (Hong Kong: English title)
Wu zhuangyuan Su Qi-er (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)

Runtime:

Taiwan:96 min | Hong Kong:101 min | UK:93 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:15 (DVD rating) | Singapore:PG | Hong Kong:IIB

Company:

Win's Entertainment Ltd.

Elaborate, funny, but ultimately uninvolving riches-to-rags tale

Something of a departure for Stephen Chow, as he drops the zany over-the-top humour of his more well known comedies to play a real legendary figure, So-Hat-Yi a.k.a the "King of Beggars". Although you wouldn't notice its not supposed to be a typical Chow comedy until well into the second half, because the convoluted, meandering story allows Chow to do all his usual comedy gimmicks before turning into a more serious historical action adventure.

There is plenty to admire here: a fun cameo from directing legend Yuen Woo Ping, the "sleeping fist" kung-fu style, some well mounted large-scale battle scenes, and the usual fantastical action sequences typical to the fantasy/swordplay genre.

Unfortunately, its all a bit baffling, the plot is uninvolving, and its all rather inconsistent in tone (one minute Chow is a bumbling idiot, the next he's a stoic hero).

Worth a look, particularly if you prefer martial arts to comedy, but not Stephen Chow's best.