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This is the sequel to The Conman. As well as appearing in, directing,
producing and writing Conmen in Vegas: Wong Jing stops at nothing
to get his gags across, and this time, we are headed to the gambling
halls of Las Vegas. Here gambling takes second place in a film stuffed
with visual jokes, sexual innuendos, and the usual repertoire of
gags a la Carry On films. In the past, Wong had directed some really
slick movies that had a lot of wit; a host of good ideas that worked;
and was sort of original. But recently, you have to admit that all
Wong's films revolve around sex and the exploitation of women.
This
sequel to Conman introduces a new character, Ah Nat, played by veteran
funnyman, Nat Chan Pak Cheung. In the movie, he is a cousin to Dragon
(Nick Cheung), still the student of King (Andy Lau). A triad boss
captures Dragon when he finds out that the three of them conspired
together to swindle him in a card game. Meanwhile, King and Nat
are arrested by the police but not charged. They meet with a Chinese
secret service officer and are given a mission to accomplish. They
must go to Las Vegas to apprehend a man who has stolen four billion
dollars from China. King has no choice but to comply when he is
told to deliver thirty million dollars in exchange for Dragon.
Thus,
King and Nat head off to the glitz and ritz of Las Vegas. Whilst
there, they meet up with two beautiful girls from Taiwan, who were
dumped by some dodgy men, and now have no money (you'd be crazy
to dump these beauties). Nat, lustfully attracted to the one with
big tits, easily persuades them to live with them at the Caesar's
Palace. At the Palace, we meet Peter Chu, the person they have to
apprehend. Chu is a big gambler, swears a lot, and looks down on
everyone. King and Nat devises a plan to snare Chu, so they meet
up with a porn director, Handsome Woo (Wong Jing), to get his help.
He tells them to use one of the girls as bait, because of her obvious
beauty, Chu would easily fall for her.
The
rest of the movie is about how they kidnap Chu, and what happens
when they do kidnap him. The plot is pretty much nonsensical because
it is just a vehicle for the ongoing gags and visual comedy, which
flies thick and fast. If you like Wong's comedy films, and like
his kind of toilet humour, then this will certainly appeal to you,
but otherwise, you might find this a bit banal. The plot is pretty
silly anyway, with hardly any gambling in it, and the ending is
poor, with no showdowns or anything. Comedy-wise, there are parts
of the film that are quite hilarious, but some of the visual comedy
has been used before, especially the sausage-lips gag.
Performances-wise,
I'd say that the actors gave their best shot at it. Andy Lau doesn't
really do much comedy acting, he plays the serious character in
the movie, like he did in Conman. Nat Chan spends most of the film
behaving really silly, but since this is a silly film, it suits
him fine. Nick Cheung provides a cameo this time, most probably
at the time he was busy on another film or TV series. Of all the
characters, I liked Alex Man's portrayal of Peter Chu the best.
His performance was so over the top, so ostentatious, that is was
not possible but laugh at his antics and his dialogue. I found that
he was the funniest of the lot. Now, the three female leads, they
certainly had enough screen time, and they carried off their comedic
acts well, but it was the usual dumb blonde routine, except these
aren't blondes. Overall, it is an average film.
Note:
the VCD edition is in widescreen (2:35) with some good subtitles.
You still have to endure the poor english, and the subs are still
difficult to see, but the overall quality of the disc is quite good.
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