God of Gamblers Part III: Back to Shanghai

The plot is pretty standard fare: guy with power (our hero) and his uncle gets sent back in time to 1937 Shanghai (from 1991 Hong Kong) when a group of super-powered "gamblers" (I guess), decides to whack him for him beating one of them in a gambling boat (or something). I don't speak Chinese, so I had to rely on the subtitles, and most of the times the titles (being in white font) clashes with the video background, hence making reading it impossible, so I'm just summing up as best as possible.

But the real treat of GOG3 isn't the plot -- like all HK action fare, the plot is secondary to the stunts. Needless to say, our hero must find a way home, but along the way, gets in the middle of history. Standard Back to the Future stuff, except with Chinese gamblers with psychic powers instead of a sports car.

What's really good about GOG3 is the comedy. Unlike a lot of its HK supposed "comedy" flicks, this one is actually funny! I've seen a lot of HK movies, and they are usually two things -- too over the top or just too childish. The Chineses, it seems, have a weird sense of humor -- and most of the time I find their "comedies" to be forced and low-brow. Certainly GOG3 is pretty low brow at times, but it's darn funny and campy as heck. Even if you can't understand what they're saying (as I couldn't), the pratfalls and "mistaken identity" that is so prevalent (and unfunny) in many HK movies is actually FUNNY here!

Check this movie out for a good time. Too bad most HK movies aren't nearly this funny.