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CARRY
ON PICKPOCKET
AKA:
Carry On Pick Pocket
Year:
1982 Reviewer: Phil
Mills
Rice
Pot (Sammo Hung) and Chimney (Frankie Chan) are students of
Master Kim in the art of pickpocketing. When Rice Pot
becomes involved with an undercover Police woman the gang are
persuaded to help her out by using their skills in theft.
They are asked to steal some very valuable diamonds from a
gang boss during a trade off. Obviously the gang aren't
too happy about their loss and, with no where to run and a
lack of police assistance, Rice Pot and Chimney must use their
wits and kung fu skills to stay alive.
When
you think about it, over the years Sammo Hung has been teamed with
some astounding talent, everyone from the likes of Jackie Chan and
Yuen Biao to the comic genius
of Karl Maka and yet with each individual outing, you can normally
be sure that the film will provide medium to high levels of
entertainment. In my opinion, this is clearly the sign
of a directorial (and acting) genius that the man is capable
of producing a winning formula with practically every outing
and creating films that always a pleasure to watch.
As
is to be expected after that little rant, 'Carry On
Pickpocket' is no exception to the rule and even though it
suffers from a marginally slow opening, the film soon settles
into that distinctive 80s style Hong Kong action/comedy affair
that encapsulates the viewer in it's innocent charm.
Sammo's comrade in arms here comes in the form on Frankie Chan
who brings with him superb comic timing combined with a fresh
slant on the action as his spindly frame is seemingly capable
of contorting in all sorts of new ways. Sammo is of
course as dependable as ever, maintaining his strong stances
and utilising his physical strength to great effect whilst
also displaying extreme dexterity for a man of his
build. Oddly enough, the film has a similar slant to
that of 'Dragons
Forever' as it starts out life as a happy go lucky comedy
but eventually culminates in an all action finale that is
surprisingly violent for a film of this ilk.
For
me, this
movie was something of a surprise package as it was one that I had heard
next to nothing about but it turned out to be a great find and
is a perfect
addition for fans of 80s HK action movies. It's also worth
noting that Sammo won the best actor award in Hong Kong at the
time for his performance in this movie.
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