Hong Kong funnyman Stephen Chow plays Hsing, a police rookie who has been visited by the ghost of murdered police officer Paio (Bill Tung). His soul cannot be at rest because his death has been written off as a suicide; therefore, he asks Hsing to help him avenges his death in return for finding him a girlfriend and a promotion.
The plot seemed intriguing with the murdered cop/wandering ghost device. However, the somewhat nonsensical comedy and humor overshadows the ghost elements, focusing too much on Hsing trying to court his superior Chin's (Shui-Fan Fung) daughter and Chin attempting to master Taoist magic. There are very little surprises and twists to the story and many silly, nonsensical humor, from Hsing's taking down a bunch of thugs with a flying bullet to Hsing and Chin creating an anecdote with gross ingredients to save Hsing's soul.
However, the acting wasn't bad and you would get a few laughs out of the movie, especially in the part when Chin finds out Hsing is dating his daughter. There are also some nice action sequences, including the ghost vs. wizard scene.
It's not the best HK ghost-comedy out there, but it's worth the watch.
Grade B-
Keywords: policeghostdrug trafficking
Plot summary
After police officer Paio is murdered, his soul cannot be at rest for his murder has been written off as a suicide. Therefore the heavens send him back to Earth as a spirit to find his 'savior' who will help him clear his name. Hsing, a rookie officer, is the savior and in return for finding Paio's killer, Piao must get him a girlfriend and a promotion.
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Goofy ghost comedy with Stephen Chow!
A lot of fun...
Those typical 90s comedies, completely exaggerated, but that we love it has a taste of nostalgia, and full of nostalgia... The chemistry between the cops, the cute one, the veteran and the newcomer, the living, and the dead, a lot of fun...
Amusing at times, but makes little sense
This is the fifth Stephen Chow movie I have seen, and it is yet another relentless collection of slapstick gags that you wouldn't find in even the silliest Hollywood comedies. If you are not familiar with the outrageous kind of slapstick found in Hong Kong movies, no doubt that some of the attempts at humor will take you aback. But having seen my share of Hong Kong comedies, I am now used to the outrageousness found in these movies. And with the non-stop display of gags, it's bound that I would find some of them to be amusing.
However, though I haven't seen all of Stephen Chow's movies, I think it's safe to say that this is one of his weakest. It isn't because the level of humor is below average, but it's due to the story. As I said in my subject line, the movie makes very little sense. Whole scenes seem to be missing, scenes that possibly might have filled in the gaps of the plot. Also, some scenes seem to be missing footage from their beginnings and/or endings. All this results in the movie's story being quite hard to follow at times. I don't know if this incoherent tone was due to production problems, the film being hacked down in the editing room, or a script that was badly written before filming started. Whatever the reason(s) might be, the movie ends up being one of Chow's lesser efforts, and can only be recommended to his biggest and most forgiving fans.