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Cast:
Andy
Lau
Alan
Tam
Sammo
Hung
Karl
Maka
Sylvia
Chang
Kent
Cheng
Anthony
Chan
Billy
Lau
Tetsuya
Matsui
Action:
Sammo
Hung
Producer:
Sammo
Hung
Director:
Eric
Tsang
Score:
  
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LUCKY
STARS GO PLACES
AKA:
The Luckiest Stars ||
My Lucky Stars Go Places
Year:
1986 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
As
'My
Lucky Stars' and 'Twinkle
Twinkle Lucky Stars' proved such big successes at the
local box-office, it was only natural that a third instalment
would follow. For 'Lucky Stars Go Places', Eric Tsang takes
over the director's chair from Sammo Hung and decides to ring
the changes. Instead of keeping the tried and tested Lucky
Stars team, Tsang brings in a new cast who include popular
Hong Kong stars Andy Lau, Alan Tam and the 'Aces
Go Places' coupling of Karl Maka and Sylvia Chang. What
does remain is the Lucky Stars mixture of low-brow humour and
fast and furious fight action with the former being perhaps
the main concentration here.
When
a slick Japanese arms dealer makes an appearance in Hong Kong,
the police need to find a way to trap him and therefore
finally capture this elusive foe. The police look to the Lucky
Stars team who have helped twice before in the past, but soon
realise that they've turned back towards a life of crime. A
new team is assembled from scratch by Fastbuck (Sammo) and
once again it is made up of the losers that have no chance of
succeeding in any other area, but as the new Lucky Stars can
overcome anything. This assorted troupe are also given another
young female police instructor to guide them through their
basic training and once more these lecherous misfits try to
get to know her a bit too well. After assorted training, the
Lucky Stars are ready to infiltrate the criminal world and
finally turn from awkward outsiders to heroes.
Although
certain aspects of the series have changed in this third part,
'Lucky Stars Go Places' still proves to be an entertaining and
undemanding film that fits well into this popular film series.
Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao's absence is felt, but neither
played huge roles in the previous two films so this is not too
much of a problem. What does affect the film's flow is the two
storylines that seem to almost operate independently until, at
various moments, the two cross; again though, the 'Lucky
Stars' film's are not exactly appreciated for their plots. The
action is on shorter supply in this third part, but when it
does happen it is of a good standard, notably the frenzied
encounter between Andy Lau, Sammo Hung and Japanese kicker
Tetsuya Matsui. The film's short and sweet action is one
reason to watch, another is that the low-brow humour is
surprisingly amusing at times and proves to be more successful
than in the previous attempts; this could be because of the
unusual chemistry of the diverse cast or the generally sharper
set-pieces that they perform. 'Lucky Stars Go Places' doesn't
ask to be taken seriously or accepted as a work of art and
therefore it offers a good time for those with low
expectations. Don't demand a laugh riot or an action feast and
you'll find 'Lucky Stars Go Places' a pleasant diversion.
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