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Cast:
Miriam
Yeung
Daniel
Wu
Raymond
Wong
Sammy
Leung
Hui
Shiu Hung
Chow
Chung
Wu
Fung
Lam
Suet
Cheung
Ying Choi
Producer:
Zhao
Hai Cheng
Huang
Jian Xin
Y.
Y. Kong
Director:
Joe
Ma
Score:
 
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LOVE
UNDERCOVER 2: LOVE MISSION
AKA:
N/A
Year:
2003 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
2003
was far from a great year for Hong Kong cinema. In both
financial and artistic terms, the year failed to build on the
promise of the previous twelve months. Nevertheless, one film
stood out as a pleasant surprise, a film that I knew little or
nothing about, but proved to be a very entertaining feature -
'Love
Undercover' was its name. Starring Miriam Yeung, an
actress who's gradually catching up with Sammi Cheng's
box-office domination, the film, though lightweight, was
endearing and was an excellent showcase for the charming Yeung.
The question now is could the sequel measure up favourably to
its predecessor - financially it easily outgrossed the
original, but what of the actual quality of the finished work.
After
completing her last mission with flying colours, Kuen (Yeung)
is given the choice of any role in the Hong Kong Police
Department. Reluctantly accepting the promotion, Kuen
nonetheless throws herself into her assignments only to see
her attempts to please her superiors turn into unmitigated
disasters. These horrendous errors means that, as quickly as
she was promoted, she id demoted to her old desk job within
the police station. Nevertheless, Kuen isn't overly concerned
as her private life is in far better shape with Man (Wu) now
contemplating a proposal of marriage to the woman he loves.
Her career opportunities are also boosted soon after her
eventual demotion as her loyal superior asks for her help
during the visit of exotic Empress Tasha of Puerto Risi.
Following a somewhat over-zealous welcome, the beautiful
empress and her entourage are sent to stay with Kuen and
benefit from her protection. However, the seemingly pleasant
stay takes a turn for the worse when Kuen accidentally pushes
her guest down the stairs after an altercation between the
two. During her subsequent disciplinary, Kuen is now told that
Tasha is in fact an Interpol agent who is attempting to crack
a smuggling role in which the ruler of Puerto Risi is
implicated. Another misunderstanding now means that Kuen must
travel to Shanghai to meet the master thief and persuade him
that she herself is the empress he loves.
As
lightweight as the original, 'Love Undercover 2' is never
going to be an award winner, but, to its credit, it's not
intended to be. Joe Ma's goal is to create a fun comedy that
highlights the charm of Miriam Yeung and absorbs the viewer in
her outlandish adventures - in this regard the film is a
definite success. Though it doesn't meld its elements together
in quite the way that the first film did, 'Love Undercover 2'
still has much to offer. Once again, the focus is not on the
admittedly unconvincing plot, but the superb interplay between
the extensive cast of well-established characters.
Despite
its qualities, Joe Ma's follow-up doesn't always live up to
the promise of the excellent first ten minutes. As was
mentioned earlier, the storyline isn't intended to be the main
anchor of the film, but the last ten minutes unravels to the
point of distraction. With the main narrative and the sub-plot
meeting together, Joe Ma allows matters to become entangled
and even more incredulous than they originally were. The film
would've benefited from another ten minutes cut from the
running time to create a tighter, smoother Miriam Yeung
vehicle. Nevertheless, 'Love Undercover 2' is still a more
consistent film than many recent comedies from Hong Kong
cinema.
'Love
Undercover 2' is recommended to anyone who enjoyed the
original. It's a much more absorbing film than the
disappointing 'My Lucky Star' and makes fine use of its
exceptional ensemble cast, utilising the effective
characterisations that had been created in the original and
adding a few new faces. One major highlight of 'Love
Undercover 2' is the superb chemistry between Miriam Yeung and
Daniel Wu; building on their unlikely relationship from the
first film, the couple actually seem to be in love and fully
convey these feelings to the viewer. Though this isn't
normally identified as a necessity for this type comedy it is
nonetheless very welcome. Daniel Wu has made steady progress
from his unbalanced performance in 'Gen-X Cops' to his current
reputation as an actor whose performances get better with
every new film. With a career that becomes ever more varied in
the types of roles he chooses, Wu is potentially a name for
the future. Getting off that particular tangent, I would again
recommend 'Love Undercover 2' as a slick and thoroughly
entertaining sequel.
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