ROB-B-HOOD
(Bo Bui Gai Wak/The Baby Project)
(Bo Bui Gai Wak/The Baby Project)
by Mike Leeder
Impact Magazine, November 2006
Thong (Jackie Chan), Octopus (Louis Koo) and the Landlord (Michael Hui)are three of Hong Kong’s most ambitious if misguided and unsuccessful career criminals who call themselves “the Thieving Musketeers”. Claiming to support the spirit of Robin Hood, they steal from the Rich and give to the poor, sort of. The poor being themselves, as none of them is capable of holding onto their ill gotten gains for any length of time. Thong’s is a heavy gambler, with his share always being place don the next ‘sure thing”, Octopus squanders his money on a bevy of high maintanance girlfriends while the timid Landlord struggles to keep his long suffering wife in check. The three might get up to no good, but have always followed a code of non violence and despite their misadventures, Inspector Mok (Yuen Biao) has acquired an almost soft spot for them, and tends to look the other way when it comes to their often less then legal but never very successful activities.
Meanwhile Matthew, the son of local heiress Man Yee (Cherrie In) and her husband Calvin (Andrew Lin) has been kidnapped by Man yee’s delusional ex-boyfriend Max (Terrence Yin), who has convinced himself and his family that the child is his. A fatal accident leaves Max dead, and sets his Triad boss father (Chen Bao-guo) on the road to vengeance, and offering a large bounty for the “safe return” of his grandson.
With the temptation of “30 Million” Hong Kong dollars for the kidnapping and safe delivery of Matthew to his “grandfather”, proving too much to resist, the “thieving musketeers” make their plans and are able to kidnap the child, only to find themselves losing their hearts to the kid and their desire for easy money paling in comparison to the bond that grows between them and the child. When Slipper enlists the beautiful Nurse Melody to advise him on child care, he finds himself falling in love, while Octopus’ long suffering girlfriend Bak yin (Charlene Choi) reveals to he boyfriend she’s actually pregnant herself and Landlord’s childless wife begins to embrace the child into the family as their own, trouble begins to brew as the trio are forced to choose between their paternal feelings for Matthew and the lucrative rewards offered for his delivery.
To begin with before you start listening to the Internet reviewers complaining that this film isn’t as dark or as action packed as many of Chan’s previous outings, please note that “Rob-B-Hood” is a light hearted action comedy rather than a full on action movie, so bear that in mind as while there’s plenty of action and stunt work, its not as full on or as brutal as that of “New Police Story”. Its very much a throwback to the classic day’s of HK cinema in the 80’s Ala “Wheels On Meals” etc, and you can really see if the film had been made in the 80’s, that the main roles would have been Chan, Yuen Biao & Hung. And before people point the finger and say isn’t this a riff on “ Three Men and a Baby”, yes it is and doesn’t it look like Chan’s version of Vin Diesel’s “The Pacifier”, well that was rumoured to be a possible Chan vehicle, before it finally hit the screen with the “Vin” in the lead, although it still featured some impressive Jackie Chan styled action courtesy of longtime JC Stunt-teamer Brad Allan. “Rob-B-Hood” is a much broader and family friendly project than Jackie’s previous outings with director Benny Chan in “New Police Story” and “Who Am I?”
“Rob-B-Hood” or “Project BB” as it was originally called, was announced in mid 2005 while Chan was promoting the release of his epic time traveling adventure “The Myth”. Early reports on the film suggested that Chan would be starring alongside two frequent co-stars Eric Tsang (“Hitman”) and Sammo Hung (“Pedicab Driver”), but shortly after the initial announcement Tsang left the project, and while in Korea promoting “The Myth”, when Chan spoke of his intentions to reunite with both Hung & Yuen Biao on an upcoming project, the first time the three would have worked together since “Dragons Forever”. People immediately assumed that “Rob B Hood” was the film Chan was talking about, and the Internet was soon awash with positive rumours about the film quickly followed by disappointment when it was revealed that while Yuen Biao was indeed co-starring in the film, in a supporting role as Inspector Mok, Sammo Hung was not involved in the film. Chan’s main co-stars for the film would be played by prolific actor Louis Koo(“Election”, “Bullets Over Summer”)and legendary Hong Kong comedian Michael Hui, who previously starred alongside Chan in “The Cannonball Run” for director Hall Needham” in the early 1980’s.
Now as mentioned and this might be a disappointment for some, this is a light hearted action comedy, it does feature some very nice action and stunt sequences but the majority of the film is comedy some of which is somewhat corny to say the least. And the film does wager that most audiences are going to be amused by the baby and the situations it creates for Jackie and co, IE lots of crying, screaming, silly expressions from both the baby and Jackie, people mistaking Jackie & Louis Koo as a gay couple trying to raise the baby, the baby being placed in dangerous situations, and lots of baby poo! And you know that the three hard hearted heroes will be overcome by the baby’s goodness before the end of the film but you know what it works, most of the time!
There are several solid action sequences, even if there is more of a focus on acrobatic evasion then fighting this time round but then again I don’t think bone crunching action would have gelled with the tone about the baby. Some great moments include Jackie working his way down the side of a building by leaping from air conditioner to air conditioner, the classic run away baby carriage in the midst of fast moving traffic, a coolly executed sequence in and around a spectacular hospital atrium, the finale which features Jackie and the baby battling the bad guys at various heights in an abandoned amusement park and a very nice extended cameo by Yuen Biao who gets to let loose and deliver some of his sharpest looking action since his 80’s glory days. Chan might have slowed down a little but he’s still pulling off kicks and flips that the majority of us could never hope of imitating without the use of major cgi enhancement! The films action scenes were choreographed by Jackie & JC team-leader Nicky Li who’s work can also be seen in “Fatal Contact” to be reviewed next issue.
Chan delivers an entertaining light hearted performance and its good to see him having fun again on screen, while Louis Koo also delivers a playful turn far removed from his recent work in the “Election” series. While Michael Hui is as good as ever, recalling the glory days of the Hui Brothers. The film features some a strong supporting cast including the great Teresa Carpio as Michael Hui’s long suffering and slightly unbalanced wife, who still grieves over the loss of her child several years earlier. Mainland China actress Gao Yuan-yuan is a little underwritten as the nurse who offers helpful advice and falls for Chan’s character, while the ever cute Charlene Choi of “Twins” brings a smile to the face as the oft neglected love interest of Louis Koo.
While Andrew Lin, Cherrie Ying & Terrence Yin and Chen Bao-guo fill out the rest of the cast as the mother and father of the baby, the delusional ex-boyfriend and his Triad boss father respectively, special mention should go to the baby himself played by Matthew Medvedev who seems perfectly at ease in the madness of movie making. Throw in innumerable cameo performances from Conroy Chan, Ken Low, Lisa S and a nice appearance by Daniel Wu & Nicholas Tse as a pair of armoured car drivers to name just a few. Plus there’s always the added bonus of spotting the various members of the Jackie Chan Stunt-man team including Mong Cha-cha, Wu Gong and Anthony Carpio etc popping up at various points throughout the movie.
Director Benny Chan delivers a very light and fast paced comedy caper, and its good to see Benny displaying his lighter side after the darkness of many of his projects. The films script is nicely put together as a framework to hang all manner of comedic situations and some nice action beats, and it works very well as a family film even if you do find yourself initially wondering if it would have been better suited for a Chinese New Year release rather than the Autumn release it’s received in Asia.
But with audiences in Hong Kong & the rest of Asia responding very strongly to the film giving it the thumbs up and presenting Jackie and the team with some of the biggest box office figures for a recent Chan film. “Rob-B-Hood” is entertaining enough and while it may not appeal as strongly to western fans who prefer the darker tones of films like “New Police Story”, and more in the way of action rather than comedy. Its obvious that with this film Jackie wanted to take a light hearted trip and the local audience at least is more than happy to join him.
(Mike Factoid: In original drafts of the script Chan’s character was to be painted in much darker shades, and while I like seeing Jackie play the darker side and am especially looking forward to his upcoming journey into the dark side for Derek Yee’s “Shinjuko Incident”, I’m not sure how well the film would have played if Jackie and the entire tone of the film had been made much darker. It’s a comedy caper, blood and excessive violence would not have been appropriate.)
“Rob-B-Hood” gets the thumbs up if you’re in the mood for a very light hearted more family styled slice of Chan’demonium, watch it with the brain in neutral and without the memory of “Drunken Master 2” lingering in your brain and it’ll be a much more enjoyable film. Hell get the whole family to watch it, if this film doesn’t show Chan’s cross generational appeal then we’re not sure what can. The only disappointment is that to me especially it really made me miss the golden age of HK cinema, and Yuen Biao’s appearance did re-enforce the fact that Chan, hung & Yuen work so well as a team and that they need to get back together for at least one more project. If the three of them had hit the screen in “ Rob-B-Hood”, I’d like to think we’d be looking at an all time Hong Kong Classic.
Factoid: Yuen Biao will soon be seen in action again, alongside Sammo Hung in the upcoming “Wing Chun” TV series starring Nicholas Tse. Recent years have seen both Yuen & Hung working with Jackie on various projects, Hung on “Mr. Nice Guy” and more recently “The Medallion”, while Yuen Biao lent his choreographic skills to Chan’s “Shanghai Noon” project.
Text and Graphics ©2006 Impact Magazine (Used with permission)
|
posted on Saturday, Sep 15, 2012
|
|
posted on Saturday, Sep 15, 2012
|
|
posted on Saturday, Sep 15, 2012
|
|
posted on Saturday, May 08, 2010
|
|
posted on Wednesday, May 27, 2009
|