|
Review
by Kozo: |
Blockbuster
parody of the famous "Duke of Mt. Deer" novels
and television serials, except this time protagonist
Wai Siu-Bo is essayed by (at the time) newly-minted
superstar Stephen Chow. Bo is the son of a prostitute
who chances into an affiliation with the Heaven and
Earth Society. Hero Chang Chin-Nam (Damian Lau) assigns
Bo to infilitrate the Emperor's court to steal the "42
Chapter Classic", a martial arts book which will
help the Heaven Earth Society overthrow the Ching Dynasty
and restore the Ming Dynasty.
However, Bo accidentally ends
up applying to be a eunuch. Saved from castration by
head eunuch Ha Da-Fu (Ng Man-Tat), he's sent by Da-Fu
to spy on the Emperor and steal the aforementioned "42
Chapter Classic" from the Empress Dowager (Cheung
Man). But, Bo makes friends with the Emperor (Deric
Wan), who entreats Bo to spy on Ha Da-Fu and evil bastard
Ao-Bye (Tsui Kam-Kong). If that isn't enough to complicate
matters, Bo is pursued sexually by the Princess (Chingmy
Yau), he receives twin warrior women (Fennie Yuen and
Vivian Chan) to watch over him, and the Empress Dowager
isn't even the Empress Dowager! She's actually a member
of the Dragon Sect, who are also after the "42
Chapter Classic" and other assorted martial arts
tomes. Wai Siu-Bo earns her enmity, which sets up her
return in Royal Tramp 2, except now she looks
like Brigitte Lin Ching-Hsia. And, there's fighting.
Wuxia purists will go
berzerk at Royal Tramp's fast-and-loose interpretation
of established literary lore, but fans of the weird
and wacky will probably die laughing. As a Wong Jing/Stephen
Chow extravaganza, the film contains more screwy comedy
than ten other pictures, which isn't necessarily a good
thing. The low-brow laughs are easy to get, but Western
audiences will completely lose the film's copious wordplay.
Without knowledge of Cantonese, we're left with Chow's
hilarious mugging, supreme overacting by the entire
cast (especially Ng Man-Tat and Tsui Kam-Kong), and
generous portions of Ching Siu-Tung's fluid fight choreography.
All of that put together can equal a very fun time,
though one will have to ignore Royal Tramp's
uneven pace, which piles joke upon joke to the point
of exhaustion.
To become even more critical,
one could point the finger at the character of Wai Siu-Bo,
who is simply a fast-talking conman who manages to avoid
death AND score hot babes without really breaking a
sweat. As portrayed by Stephen Chow, Bo isn't much more
than an annoying hanger-on who's extremely lucky. If
one requires that a protagonist experience "change",
then Royal Tramp is must-avoid cinema. However,
it's doubtful that anyone involved in this picture cared
for character arc, and audiences sure went home happy. Royal Tramp was one of the five top-grossing
films in Hong Kong in 1992, and ALL FIVE starred Stephen
Chow Sing-Chi. Clearly, someone was doing something
right. (Kozo 1995/2002) |
|
