Pandoras Box

Film Review

Just Another Pandora's Box

Starring:Ronald Cheng ,Sun Li ,Yuen Biao,Yuen Wah

Directed By:Jeffrey Lau

2010

Ha! Ha Ha! ,how i like to laugh ,but not many films really make me laugh out loud ,so when i heard about this new film from Jeff Lau which basically is a spoof of the recent Kung Fu martial arts films that have been around.

Specifically Red Cliff comes to mind .It's quite funny at the beginning as we see a young girl singing on a raft on a river ,which is something out of classic Chinese picture from the sixties ,when all of a sudden she is knocked of by a rope across the banks of the river (basically a trap by a robber played by Ronald Cheng) This is the first scene after the opening credits which have told us that Jackie Chan,Chow Yun Fat Jet Li,Angelina Jolie have refused to be in this film .

Any way as we see Qing Yise (Ronald Cheng ) try and subdue the young lady ,that he has knocked into the river .She comes to and as he struggles with her he is attacked and in the scuffle the young lady has a sword which is of a mystic nature and she has been looking for te man that can remove the sword from the scabbard .

Amidst the confusion Qing Yise grabs the sword for defence and pulls it out of it's scabbard ,thus revealing to the young lass the man she has been looking for .The foe he is battling disappears and she proclaims him the man she must marry because he released the sword.He down-rightly refuses saying it's a mistake and the sword must be broken as he repeatedly pushes the sword home and releases it .( Signs of King Arthur here i think)

The sword is a special sword and thus Qing is now bequeathed to the young lady in marriage,or so she thinks.As Qing tries to escape by running away as she chases ,but others are after them as well and a chase ensues as everyone seems to run around at 1000 mile a hour.In the end the only way to escape is to enter a time whole that sends them to a time of war and the battle of Red Cliff where Cao Cao is a tyrant and reking havoc .

So now the happy couple are amidst a war and that makes a spoof out of Red Cliff,with Qing taking on a role of one of the famous warriors ,there's one seen in Red Cliff when a lone soldier battles Cao Cao's men whilst saving a baby .This is spoofed to a point of madness when Qing uses the baby as a weapon by getting it to pee at the enemy ,thing is it gushes out like fire hose (qiute entertaining).

The film carries on like this with Qing and Rose Fairy getting caught up in the battle against Cao Cao's army .But other films come in to play as well with Yuen Wah and Bruce Liang reprising their roles from Kung Fu hustle.

On top of that we have Yuen Biao as Liu Bei and Yu Rong Guang as Gan Xing.The film has numerous battle that result in some of the most impressive and outlandish scenes filmed ,but all are done with such grace that makes the film so enjoyable.And you must look out for the Titanic rip off which is marvelous.

Though not a laugh out loud adventure ,the film is humorous in many ways without being offending or to slapstick to make it childish .With well choreographed fight scenes and scenes of Love,Transvestism and miltary cunning 'Just Another Pandora's Box 'is a fun filled ride no one should miss .

Score out of Ten = 8

The Snake

Review Date : 28/07/2010

Stills from the film