A classic story is retold and the result is at once delightful and hilarious. Reliable veteran actress Anita Mui plays the king of the Qi kingdom in a gender bender and revels in her role in providing most of the comic moments in the movie. Sammi Cheng plays the female warrior Chung Wu Yen, who is bound by destiny to fall in love with the king. Cecelia Cheung plays a fox spirit who is in love with both Wu Yen and the king, depending on which gender it takes when it is in human form. At the start of the movie, the fox spirit puts a curse on Wu Yen that causes her to be ugly as long as she is in love with the king. Wu Yen thus falls out of favour with the lusty king, who takes to the female form of the fox spirit. However, each time the king gets into trouble with other kingdoms, he goes to Wu Yen begging her to use her superior martial arts and military tactics to save him. It is absolutely brilliant of the plot that due to various circumstances, each of these three female leads play both the male and female roles through the course of the movie. Like many Hongkong period comedies, this one has plenty of modern day objects thrown in to hilarious effect. The king's four advisers provide plenty of comic relief as well, making the movie a bubbly affair. At times this movie is even slightly touching as it explores the ideas of love, loyalty and beauty in a couple of poignant moments. Anita Mui proves once again her natural prowess at doing comedy, while Sammi Cheng and Cecelia Cheung put in more than credible performances. This movie might be a bit long but it never ceases to entertain. At least 3 and a half stars out of five.
Reviews
2 Reviews
My Wife Is a Gangster
(2001)
Unfunny and predictable, this so called comedy tends to drag
4 June 2003
Branded a comedy, the movie proves to be unfunny for most part. The main problem lies with the central character of the gangster wife, Eun-jin. She puts on a stern emotionless face for most of the movie. As if that were not enough, she speaks very few lines. It is unusual for such an important character to have so little dialogue and facial expression. This certainly distances her from the audience. The character of the unfortunate husband is not much better as most of the time he is looking sad and making futile complaints about her behaviour. The movie therefore has to depend a lot on physical comedy and here it again fails because of the predictability of the situations and the cliches employed. How many times must we watch Eun-jin threaten her meek husband? How many times must we endure the sight of her husband walking away sulking? Many potentially hilarious situations turn out to be rather unfunny thanks to the afore mentioned lack of dialogue and facial expression. Another problem is that the many subplots, which are just as unaffecting and unfunny, tend to make the movie drag. None of the supporting characters are interesting enough to make the audience care for them. The action sequences are well choreographed but they ultimately fail to save the movie.
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