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Cast:
Stephen
Chow
Sing Chi
Ng
Man Tat
Cheung
Man
Tsui
Siu Keung
David
Lam
Yuen
Woo Ping
Lawrence
Cheng
Natalis
Chan
Action:
Yuen
Cheung Yan
Producer:
Stephen
Shiu
Director:
Gordon
Chan
Score:
 
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KING
OF BEGGARS
AKA:
N/A
Year:
1992 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
The
team behind the monster hit 'Fight
Back To School' - Chow Sing Chi and Gordon Chan - once
again combined for this foray into period comedy. After
dominating the box-office charts for the past two years with
his own brand of modern day comedy, it was little surprise
that this switch in setting proved to be another big success.
As
the eponymous 'King Of Beggars', Chow Sing-Chi decides to tell
the story of another popular Chinese folk hero, Beggar So.
Here the film opens with Tsan (later to be Beggar So) as the
arrogant and spoilt son of a wealthy general (Ng Man-Tat).
There are few things that need trouble Tsan as he ambles
through life and relies on the connections of his revered
family line. A new direction is taken in his life when he
meets a beautiful woman (Cheung Man) at a nearby brothel and
decides to pursue her love. This mysterious lady is actually a
rebel whose aim it is to take revenge on an evil warlord who
frequents the house of ill repute. When Tsan interrupts her
attempts, the affluent young man is told to prove himself to
his new love in order to win her respect. Having this
challenge thrust upon him gives him the incentive to move his
entire household to the capital and make his name in a
tournament that combines various disciplines. All seems to go
according to plan until it is revealed that Tsan has cheated
in his written exam and is in fact illiterate. Instead of the
expected execution, the emperor is persuaded to spare him and
strip Tsan and his father of all their assets, then force them
to beg on the street. These two new beggars find the realities
of life on the street to be harsh and Tsan begins to lose all
of his self-respect. When a wandering beggar appears to bless
him with remarkable fighting skills, the reluctant hero is
appointed king of the beggars clan and sets out to rescue the
woman her loves from the awesome foe.
For
many Eastern audiences, Chow Sing-Chi can do very little
wrong. However, his brand of comedy hasn't always translated
well and some of his bigger hits remain confusing to casual
viewers. 'King Of Beggars' proves to be a very unusual mix of
action and comedy that was loved by the former, but still
didn't hit all of the targets with the latter. There's
certainly moments of genuine humour and, although there isn't
any deep belly laughs on offer, the film is constantly
engaging. The real problem of 'King Of Beggars' is that there
is a lack of focus on what should be the main strength of the
production. For a comedy there simply aren't enough truly
funny moments through the duration - this isn't just a problem
of translation either. The action is often very well done, but
again if this is the focus, why is the eventual climax between
Chow Sing-Chi's 'Sleeping Fist' and Tsui Siu Keung's powers so
disappointing. Director Gordon Chan doesn't have the measure
of control he had in 'Fight Back To School' and this is very
apparent during the film.
'King
Of Beggars' still has much to enjoy though. There are the
aforementioned moments of entertainment from the humour,
action and surprisingly the drama. Indeed the degradation of
Tsan is handled with genuine pathos and remains one of the
feature's plus points. This is also a visually superb
production that offers a real feast for the eyes. With all of
this understood then, 'King Of Beggars' is certainly not a
classic, but is still solid viewing.
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