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Review
by Kozo: |
When all else fails, there's always a gambling movie. Wong
Jing and buddy Aman Cheung return to the well for the umpteenth
spin-off on the God of Gamblers franchise. Following
in the more recent trend of Conman flicks, this new
one is titled The Conman 2002. However, it has nothing
to do with the Andy Lau vehicles The Conman and The
Conmen in Vegas, or the Louis Koo flick Conman in
Tokyo. The only things that The Conman 2002 has
in common with those other (better) films is gambling and
Nick Cheung. Let's pray that's enough.
Cheung plays an unlucky bastard
named Lee Ka-Sing (after Hong Kong real estate magnate Lee
Ka-Sing), who brings bad luck to himself and anyone who's
nice to him. After a run of lousy luck puts Lee and pal
Stanley Ho (Wyman Wong, who's also sporting an ironic name)
in the hospital, things start to look up. Lee meets angelic
nurse Summer (new popsinger Mango Wong), who's one of those
patently unrealistic film characters. What that means is
Summer is incredibly lovely, has a wonderful personality,
and actually finds a guy like Nick Cheung attractive. She's
also unattached, which is another prime example of fiction
at work. Summer and Lee hit it off, but he's worried that
his bad luck will affect her.
But, Lee's bad luck powers
actually come in handy. Summer's triad brother Spring (Stephen
Fung) puts Lee to use as a bad luck magnet in Macau, which
screws the odds and allows them to make a bundle. Unfortunately,
this attracts the attention of evil bastard Bro 9 (Keung
Ho-Man), who wants Lee to work for him. Also, Summer is
unhappy with Lee's new gambling occupation, which means
that he may lose her. And, worst of all, someone else dubs
Stephen Fung's voice, which means he's the only character
whose lips don't match his words. Oh, the horror!
The Conman 2002 seems
lazy even by Hong Kong standards. While the first third
of the film has some amusing slapstick and pratfalls, the
rest of the film screeches to an interminable halt. The
gambling sequences aren't exactly thrilling, and the comedy
is amazingly unfunny. Nick Cheung is a willing and able
performer, and at the very least he's not annoying in this
film (unlike, say, The Tricky Master). However, an
able performance in a lackluster script is like being an
all-star on a losing team. And even though he's a competent
- and even likable - performer, Nick Cheung is no all-star.
He's more like a sixth man.
Still, Cheung is practically
the lone bright spot in this movie. Mango Wong is cute,
and possesses large eyes like a Japanimation heroine. However,
most animated characters are probably more compelling than
Wong, whose hackneyed role has "flower vase" written
all over it. Faring even worse is Stephen Fung, who was
once an up-and-coming Hong Kong actor. Despite getting the
film's "cool" role, he's so uninteresting that
he probably should have stayed home. Spring is a Knight
of Gamblers-type who's quick with the cards and the kung-fu,
and Fung doesn't bring any of the requisite charisma to
the role. He can smile suavely and glower convincingly,
but he's so lightweight that he might as well be made of
cardboard.
The overriding emotion that
The Conman 2002 leaves is one of utter boredom. The
last twenty minutes of the film are a complete snooze-fest,
so if you're tired you might as well take a nap. This is
not a good movie, though it's also not worthy of excessive
dislike. There are other movies which are far more worthy
of your animated hatred, like The Wesley's Mysterious
File or Cop Shop Babes. The Conman 2002 merely exists in a dull manner, like a tumbleweed or most
of Michael Wong's performances. If you choose to ignore
the film's shortcomings then you may not mind its obvious
mediocrity. Then again, not seeing the film would probably
be smarter. (Kozo 2002) |
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