God of Gamblers' Returns (1994)


	God of Gamblers' Returns		Return to Review Archive - G
	Year:	1994	Chow Yun-Fat gets a light from Tony Leung Ka-Fai
	Director:	Wong Jing
	Action:	Yuen Bun
	Cast:	Chow Yun-Fat, Wu Chien-Lien, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Chingmy Yau Suk-Ching, Xie Miao (Tze Miu), Wu Xing-Guo, Law Kar-Ying, Cheung Man, Tsui Kam-Kong, Charles Heung Wah-Keung, Blacky Ko Sau-Leung, Ken Lo Wai-Kwong
	The Skinny:	Chow Yun-Fat makes a long-awaited return to one of his signature roles. While not as surprising or clever as the first film, this sequel is entertaining and good fun.
	Review by Kozo:	After five years and (presumably) numerous phone calls, Wong Jing corralled Chow Yun-Fat back for one of his best roles: Ko Chun, the God of Gamblers. In this long-awaited sequel, Ko Chun is now living in France with his pregnant wife (Cheung Man). However, the usual evil bad guys show up led by Wu Xing-Guo, and (spoiler ahead!) they challenge Ko Chun by killing his wife and leaving her unborn fetus in a jar. And that’s just in the first ten minutes. Naturally, Ko seeks revenge, but only after a year has passed. While vacationing in Taiwan, he hooks up with kung-fu kid Xie Miao after Miao’s dad Blacky Ko Sau-Leung bites it. Then more stars hop on board, including Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Wu Chien-Lien (of Eat Drink Man Woman fame), and Chingmy Yau as a Taiwanese femme fatale. They band together to take down Wu Xing-Guo, who’s become even more menacing in that buzz cut, sneering kind of way. And there's lots of hijinks and silly gags courtesy of Wong Jing. In comparison to the first, this sequel isn't as novel or surprising. The film's polished look makes its low-brow comedy and crass commercialism seems cheap and cheesy. The jokes are more nonsensical than the first film, and 80% of the cast play "wacky" characters. Thankfully, Chow Yun-Fat is around to carry the picture, and his chemistry with Wu Chien-Lien helps the obligatory romantic subplot of the film. Tony Leung Ka-Fai turns in fun support with his own hilarious God of Gamblers parody. All in all, this is fun stuff that's sure to please most fans of Hong Kong Cinema. And with Chow Yun-Fat along for the ride, nearly everything can be forgiven. (Kozo 1995/1996)
	Availability:	DVD (Hong Kong) Region 0 NTSC Mei Ah Laser 16x9 Anamorphic Widescreen Cantonese and Mandarin Language Tracks Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1 Removable English and Chinese Subtitles

		image courtesy of Mei Ah Laser Disc Co., Ltd.
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