|
Starring
:
Stephen
Chow Sing Chi
Ng
Man Tat
Chingamy
Yau
Cheung
Man
Elvis
Tsui
Damien
Lau
Derek
Wan
Natalis
Chan
Fennie
Yuen
Action
:
Ching
Siu Tung
Producer
:
Stephen
Shiu
Jimmy
Heung
Director
:
Wong
Jing
|
ROYAL
TRAMP (1992)
Reviewed
by Andrew Saroch
Taking
the well-known stories of 'The Duke Of Mount Deer', Chow Sing
Chi once again exercised his Midas touch to notch up over
HK$40 million with his own version. A sequel also followed the
same year and managed to amass a very respectable total at the
local box-office. With familiar Chow helmer Wong Jing taking
the directorial duties, 'Royal Tramp' proves to be deserving
of its financial success and a thoroughly agreeable action
comedy. More about the good and the bad later though.
Wei
Shew Bao (Chow) is the cowardly teller of tall tales who wows
and annoys local visitors in equal measure. Although he speaks
of grandiose deeds and colourful characters, the simple fact
is that his own life is devoid of adventure. All of this
changes when Wei saves the leader of the anti-Ching movement
during a furious battle. Rewarding this strangely heroic act,
the chief adopts Wei as his pupil and immediately assigns him
the task of infiltrating the palace to find the '42 Chapter
Classic'. Once in the palace, the fearful and reluctant hero
is forced to become the underling of powerful eunuch Lord Hai
(Ng Man Tat). Now with a second master, Wei is given a second
mission - to break into the Queen Mother's palace and get the
same book, but give it to Hai. While carrying out his double
assignment he befriends a brother and sister team who are
within the palace grounds; what Wei doesn't know is that this
pair are in fact the young Emperor and his sister. As with so
many others, the Emperor and especially his sister take a
shine to this hapless thief and help him out of a few scrapes.
When Wei does discover who his new friends really are, he
finds that he now has a third master who also gives him a
fearsome task to complete. Into this intrigue comes the mutual
enemy, Ao-Bye, the all-powerful general who seeks to rule the
kingdom for himself. Therefore Wei must play all sides off
against each other to ensure his own survival and the eventual
completion of his missions.
As
is very obvious from this relatively brief synopsis, 'Royal
Tramp' is complicated to the point of distraction. With so
many characters and so much duplicity, it's only natural that
the film becomes convoluted at times. Thankfully, although it
isn't perfect, it is still an admirable attempt to combine the
source material of 'The Duke Of Mount Deer' with the
redoubtable talent of Chow Sing Chi. There's something very
appealing about seeing this cowardly innocent caught up in
palace politics and Chow plays the part perfectly. His
completely hopeless, yet ultimately successful manner works
well in the straight-faced world of the swordplay film.
Instead of relying on the incredible feats of power that his
contemporaries utilise, Chow's character is totally reliant on
fortunate circumstances - something that the audience can
appreciate.
On
the down side, director Wong Jing occasionally lets his
typically over-the-top style get the better of the film. This
means that the viewer happily gets swept into the mood and
atmosphere of this crazed world, then the pace grinds to a
halt while the cast ham things up mercilessly. Obviously Chow
Sing Chi is a comedy actor first and foremost, but his
funniest moments are often his most restrained. These
over-the-top scenes also hinder the coherence of the already
complicated plot and make sure that things never run at the
speed that they should have.
'Royal
Tramp' is still a very good example of Chow Sing-Chi playing
to his strengths. Added to the humour is the furious action
orchestrated by Ching Siu Tung that makes this much more than
the average comedy film. Therefore this is, for the most part,
a polished production that is by turns funny, exciting and
baffling. Recommended.
Rating:
 
|
