The Man from Macau

I sat down to watch "From Vegas to Macau" (aka "Du cheng feng yun") today, and oddly enough I haven't seen it before, nor were I actually aware of its existence. But it being a Hong Kong movie was more than sufficient for me to opt to sit down, spending time to watch it, of course.

"From Vegas to Macau" was an enjoyable mixture of classic Hong Kong movies such as "God of Gamblers" and other such Hong Kong movies from the mid-1990s. And it actually worked out well enough in favor of the movie.

Now, keep in mind that "From Vegas to Macau" is a movie that also incorporate some slapstick humor into the formula. Personally, I think it worked out well enough, because the movie wasn't really taking itself entirely serious. I was entertained by the added comedy element. But I doubt that this will sit well with everyone in the audience.

The storyline was straight forward and easy to follow. Perhaps it was a bit too generic, because it felt like directors Jing Wong and Siu-Hung Chung were running on autopilot at times.

I will say that this 2014 movie had a good cast ensemble, and anyone just slightly familiar with the Hong Kong cinema will be pleased to see the likes of Yun-Fat Chow, Nicholas Tse, Chapman To, Michael Wong and Shiu Hung Hui on the cast list. It was really nice to have Jin Zhang in the movie, and boy, I must admit that I am very impressed with his martial arts performance.

While "From Vegas to Macau" was by no means a gemstone in the Hong Kong cinema, it proved to be entertaining enough for what it was, and for that, I am rating it a six out of ten stars.