A very funny costume comedy from Stephen Chiau which reprises his successful parody of the James Bond films in From Beijing with Love (1994) but in a historical setting and with elements of True Lies thrown in (Chiau's devoted wife, wonderfully played by Carina Liu, is unaware of his double life as an agent).
Chiau plays Double-0 Fat, a special agent of the emperor and inventor extraordinaire, who goes to Kam Kingdom to inspect an extra-terrestrial-like Flying Fairy due to be publicly dissected amid much pomp. The event turns out to be a plot to assassinate the emperor - which Double-0 Fat foils. Back in the Forbidden City, the emperor asks Double-0 Fat to check out a famous hooker from Kam Kingdom who is in Beijing. This turns out to be a similar plot.
Beneath all the usual craziness, which mixes thoroughly Cantonese verbal humour in a Beijing setting, the movie is made with considerable care. Starting with a pre-credits sequence which sends up Mandarin martial arts movies and their conventions, it then goes into a main-title sequence which parodies the James Bond films, and in the finale even throws in a reference to the killing of Oddjob in Goldfinger. As usual, Chiau is particularly funny when being a pompous expert (explaining his weird inventions, like the "mouth gun," or analysing some foreign wine and explaining how taste buds work). There are also some completely off-the-wall moments, as when Liu is suddenly awarded prizes for her performance in a preceding scene and starts thanking her parents for their support in her career. Added to everything, the action sequences are both elaborate and comical.
Derek Elley