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Cast:
George
Lam
Brigitte
Lin
Teddy
Robin
Tsui
Hark
Paul
Chun Pui
Producer:
Raymond
Wong
Director:
Teddy
Robin
Score:
 
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ALL
THE WRONG SPIES
AKA:
N/A
Year:
1983 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
Considered
a semi-sequel to Tsui Hark's popular comedy spoof 'All The
Wrong Clues', director Teddy Robin (one of the stars of the
original) and writer Raymond Wong create this reasonably
enjoyable follow-up 'All The Wrong Spies'.
Whereas
'All The Wrong Clues' was a spoof of detective films and the
like, this parody is focused on the spy genre. The familiar
wartime intrigue films of the 30s and 40s are the main target
of this scattershot comedy. It is the eve of World War II and
Hong Kong private eye Yoyo (Lam) learns of a formula for a
nuclear bomb that is up for auction. The formula is in the
hands of a Jewish scientist, but Yoyo is given the chance to
make sure that the plans are handed over to U.S. intelligence.
For this mission, Yoyo employs the services of trusted friend
Inspector Robin and together the pair investigate the
whereabouts of the formula. This leads them into direct
conflict with a corrupt police officer and a sneaky Japanese
spy (Hark) who also has designs of gaining the information for
his country. Yoyo, though, is more distracted by a beautiful
addition to the chase (Lin) who is thrown into the blend due
to her own motives.
Although
considered a follow-up to 'All The Wrong Clues', 'All The
Wrong Spies' deserves to be commended or criticised on its
own. Of course, it's loosely connected to Tsui Hark's original
hit and so there's no reason to refer to it in this review.
The first point that springs to mind about 'All The Wrong
Spies', and indeed many other George Lam vehicles, is the lack
of charisma shown by the leading man. Lam was very popular as
a singer, but his screen presence is sorely lacking; when
emotion is called for, Lam sticks to the single facial
expression that his whole acting career is based on. This film
merely concretes Lam's deficiencies - whether the scene is
dramatic, romantic or comic, George Lam remains painfully
stoic.
Despite
the weakness of its central performance, 'All The Wrong Spies'
does incorporate the zest of the Cinema City films that
dominated the early 80s. To many that might not be a good
thing, but it does mean that the duration is mostly
entertaining and succeeds in moving along with plenty of
energy. The film also boasts some pleasant comic set-pieces
while Brigitte Lin shines on the screen as she nearly always
does. A good comedy, simple as that.
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