It's a Mad Mad Mad World, Too (1992) User Reviews

A Hong Kong version of The Castle

[The-Sarkologist · 7/10 · 23 February 2013]

I am not sure if this has anything to do with a movie called It's a Mad Mad World, or something like that. I saw it long ago when I was about eight and remember absolutely nothing about it. Anyway the movie I mentioned was American and this is Hong Kong and this is absolutely hilarious.

The plot is simple but blows any similar American plot out of the water (pardon the cliché). A large family decide that they must find a bigger place because their current flat is too cramped and triads are threatening to burn them down to pass a message on to somebody down the corridor. So after being mucked around by an agent selling a house in the country, they move into a dilapidated house. They then discover that it is going to be torn down and a huge shopping centre erected. When this happens the flat is bought off of them and they discover the offer is extremely low so they refuse. Then starts are game where the agents try to scare the tenants out of the building and the tenants fight back. This isn't like The Castle, or the Brady Bunch where they fight them in court or try to get the money and don't fight. Instead the agents simply want them out and will resort to any means short of violence. Thus things like turning the building into a brothel and keeping the tenants awake comes back.

The tenants get their own back as well. They lay traps for the developers and discover that the developers need to acquire the property by a certain date. Thus in the end they have the developers over a barrel, ready to squeeze any amount of money out of them. What this movie amounts to though is the little people fighting the corporations and winning, which is the same as the Castle. The Castle involves thugs and legal dealings while this movie involves clever tricks and pranks. The court system is virtually ignored here because this is not what they want to portray. It seems more to create the fantasy of a world were it is possible for the underdog to win. This film is a fantasy wereas the Castle tries to show that it is possible for the underdog to win against the powers that be: as long as they are lucky enough to have a QC represent them for free.

Fitting end to the Biu Family movie series.

[OllieSuave-007 · 7/10 · 10 February 2016]

This is the last film in the Hong Kong It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World series, though it seems to be loosely related to the first three movies. The Biu Family (Bill Tung, Lydia Sum, Elsie Chan, Loletta Lee and Pauline Kwan) returns in another bout with big money troubles and a slew of misadventures. This time, the family is force to move from their old apartment to a house by the countryside, where they are threatened be forced out by a corrupt developer.

It's not really clear in the events in this film are connected with the original film and its sequels, as the youngest member of the family, little boy, is missing from the plot and is never mentioned; the huge cash winnings that the Biu Family won from the events in the last film are noticeably not present in this film; and the youngest daughter's name is different in this movie. But, the movie itself isn't bad nonetheless, with Bill Tung and Lydia Shum shoring up some laugh-out-loud comedy. Quite a lot of slapstick stuff as well, with a slower-paced plot than the first two movies.

It was still entertaining seeing each of the family members deal with their misadventures in their lives, especially the part where the family's plumbing went back, and the where the family fights back the corrupter and his henchmen.

It's not the best sequel, but you'll still be somewhat entertained - a fitting end to the series nonetheless.

Grade B-