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ACES
GO PLACES
AKA:
Mad Mission ||
Diamondfinger
Year:
1981 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
The
Hui Brothers had much success in the late 70's and early 80's
with films such as 'Private
Eyes' and the box-office smash sequel 'Security
Unlimited'. However, after a minor wrangle between Michael
and Samuel, the brothers went their separate ways (not working
together as a threesome until the late 80's). Michael went on
to great success with a number of box-office hits, whereas
Samuel joined Karl Maka in a film called Aces Go Places...
Small-time
jewel thief Sam (Hui) makes the grave error of crossing the
mob when he interrupts a transaction by smashing through a
window and stealing a consignment of diamonds. The mob high
the infamous White Glove - another, more notorious jewel thief
- to get the gems back at any cost. Not only has he that to
contend with, but also the attentions of White Glove's legal
nemesis, the Chinese-American detective Kodijack (Maka) and
no-nonsense female rookie Ha Tung (Chang). To add to this,
Hui's accomplice (Shek) hides the diamonds before his untimely
death and just has time to tell Sam that the location is
tatooed on the bottoms of former girlfriends. After being
forced to form an alliance, Sam, Kodijack and feisty Ha Tung
set about finding this sensitive information.
When
released, this first film in the highly successful Aces Go
Places series was a box-office smash. The characters of Sam,
Kodijack and Ha Tung took their place in Hong Kong cinema's
hall of fame and inspired countless imitations of the success.
Popularity led to the Aces films being bought by German
company Atlas International and released across Europe as the
Mad Mission films. The skill of director Eric Tsang is his
ability to blend the caper-comedy inter-play of Hui and Maka
with a number of nifty set-pieces and stunts. The performances
are all first rate with the chemistry between Hui, Maka and
Chang being an obvious highlight. Alongside the strong central
performances, Tsang fills the screen with cameos and comedic
turns from some of Hong Kong's top stars. Chan Sing stands out
as crime boss Al Capone, showing a natural touch for comedy
that had rarely been given a chance to shine up until this
point.
Unlike
much of today's canto-comedy, the humour in 'Aces.' translates
very well and certainly doesn't seem to have dated after
nearly twenty-years. In fact, it sometimes seems far more
sophisticated than the supposed Wong Jing comedies that seem
to litter the box-office year upon year. It's also fair to say
that the pace and momentum of the film is far more
successfully maintained than in the aforementioned comedies.
A
number of sequels followed this, but none could match the
original (though all were certainly worth watching) for its
sheer energy and originality.
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