|
Starring
:
Mars
Carina
Lau
Hui
Ying Hung
Clarence
Ford
Phillip
Ko
Tai
Po Lo Meng
Billy
Lau
Fung
Shui Fan
Jackie
Chan (cameo)
Ricky
Hui (cameo)
Action
:
Sing
Ga Ban
Producer
:
Jackie
Chan
Director
:
Wellson
Chin
|
NAUGHTY
BOYS (1986)
A.K.A.
- A Little Bit Of Trick
Reviewed
by Pat King
Sheng
(Mars), Ma Hui (Philip Ko), Chiang (Lo Meng) and Piao (Tai Po)
are four crooks who were imprisoned for a diamond robbery. On
the eve of their release they get into a brawl, and therefore
their release is delayed. Sheng's involvement in the fight was
not witnessed by the prison staff however and is allowed to
leave the prison on time. When Shing attempts to recover the
diamonds he finds that they have been substituted with rocks.
When he informs Hui, Chiang and Piao of the news they
immediately assume he has taken the loot for himself. Scared,
he books a plane ticket to France with the money his childhood
friend Chuan (Hui Ying Hung) lends him. But when he tries to
board the plane with his new acquaintance Bonnie (Carina Lau),
he discovers the ticket is invalid so he attempts to get a
refund from Liang (Clarence Ford) who sold the ticket to him
in the first place. After seeing Sheng's wanted poster
however, Liang
sells him out to Ma Hui, while Sheng is blissfully
unaware that Bonnie is private detective investigating the
diamond theft.
'Naughty
Boys' is hardly a well made film. The narrative is disjointed,
and laughable at times. If ever there were a film that was
made up on the spot, 'Naughty Boys' would be a prime
candidate. No time is taken to establish the female
characters. It would appear that Carina Lau's purpose is that
of eye candy, and we are subjected to the traditional pervy
comedy a la 'Lucky Stars', albeit less sophisticated. Hui Ying
Hung seems to have two purposes however. The first is to add
some credibility to the action sequences in which she
succeeds. The second is to be treated badly by Mars. The
implication would appear to be that she's supposed to be
unattractive? As for Clarence Ford and Billy Lau, their
presence only serves to pad out the running time.
In
fact there is only one area in which 'Naughty Boys' doesn't
fail, and that is the action scenes. In fact these are very
typical of the 80's choreography that has since been labelled
"The Golden Era". There are some quite hairy stunts
that have become the trademark of Mars and Co. These sequences
alone are worth the relative suffrage caused by the rest of
the film, as they are of a higher standard than those found in
Wellson Chin's overall more enjoyable 'Inspector
Wears Skirts'.
'Naughty
Boys' should only be viewed for one reason - the action. All
other aspects of the film fall flat on their face. A pity,
since with a bit of care and attention to the story it could
have been a minor gem.
Rating:
  
|
