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Starring
:
Frankie
Chan
Wanda
Yung
Eric
Tsang
Lily
Lee
Lau
Tak
Charlie
Cho
Guy
Lai
Director
:
Frankie
Chan
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OH!
YES SIR! (1994)
A.K.A.
- Oh Yes Sir
Reviewed
by Phil Mills
Thanks
to appearances in films such as 'The
Outlaw Brothers' and 'Prodigal
Son', Frankie
Chan is an actor/director who is often mentioned alongside the
unforgettable action movie icons to emerge from Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s.
However, despite displaying a clear
ability in the Martial Arts along with the odd flash of quirky
charm, I've never
really considered him to be anything more than a mildly entertaining
bit part player. Unfortunately 'Oh Yes Sir!' is not the
film to enhance my opinion of Chan as it highlights his
inability to maintain a leading role as well as his lack of
credibility in the directors chair.
Power
Chan (Chan) and his partner (Yung) are on hot on the trail of
a notorious weapons smuggling ring but when they get too
close, the bad guys decide to enlist new help to protect
themselves. As such, they hire Nine Face Fox, a killer
who is capable of changing his appearance to resemble
absolutely anyone (I'm sure you can see where this is
going!). Unsurprisingly, Fox takes the appearance of
Power Chan and kills one of the key witnesses in the case
which not only leaves the smugglers in the clear but also gets
Chan out of the picture. Now a key suspect, Chan finds
himself on the run from the police so he turns to a psychic
(Tsang) who lives next door. With her help, he hopes to
communicate with the dead witness to find out the true
identity of the killer which should allow him to clear his
name and track down the men behind the weapons smuggling.
For
those familiar with the Hong Kong classics of yesteryear, the
plot and concepts featured within 'Oh Yes Sir!' will be second
nature and are often responsible for creating a
minor classic. However, in this particular outing it has
to be said that these ingredients fail to gel successfully and
the film suffers badly in both it's style and execution.
For starters, the bizarre option to have leading actors play
members of the opposite sex is a pointless and uninspiring one
that leaves Wanda Yung looking awkward throughout and wastes
the obvious talents of Eric Tsang. Furthermore, the
comedy that goes hand in hand with this concept relies heavily
on crude humour that lacks the
subtlety and charm that we have come to expect from Hong
Kong's slapstick comedies. Leading man Frankie Chan also puts in an
extremely uninspiring leading performance with only his short
spurts of action creating anything remotely interesting but
even these look somewhat clumsy in comparison to his earlier
efforts.
Overall,
'Oh, Yes Sir!' is a sub-standard effort that could have
perhaps been saved with a more substantial storyline or added emphasis on the action. As it is though, this is a
sloppily pasted together movie that is littered with unsophisticated humour and mediocre
action that is probably one for hardcore Eric Tsang fans only.
Rating:
 
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