Reviewed by: mrblue Date: 05/15/2011 Wong Jing travels down a well-worn path with 1991's Dances with Dragon, which is a fairly typical comedic product for Wong, as it seems to make up for the lack of any really gut-busting jokes by increasing the number of them thrown at the viewer, and increasing the volume at which they are delivered. As you might expect, this isn't exactly a recipe for success. Reviewer Score: 5

Reviewed by: ewaffle Date: 06/13/2010 A billionaire falls off a boat and is washed up on shore with a band of criminals who have been fleeing the police. He is without money or identification papers and, since he knows nothing of how the mass of people in Hong Kong live (the fare on the MTR for example) the police think he is a Mainlander trying to enter the SAR illegally. He is allowed to hide from the police by the scheming proprietor of a restaurant/store, a woman who plans to have him work for next to nothing since he is wanted by the police. The store owner and her beautiful daughter live in a few rooms behind and over the store and our hero beds down outside. We have discovered from previous scenes that Lung Ka-Chun is wealthy, powerful but unhappy with his life since his mother is constantly pushing him to marry someone she has found for him, his assistant manages to be both incompetent and dishonest and an older "uncle" in the same business keeps outsmarting him in acquiring prime properties for development. Now stripped of the emblems of fortune Lung Ka-Chun decides to become an ordinary illegal Hong Kong resident living in a few square feet of space with a crummy job and an employer who exploits him. He does, however, have his lifeline, a phone that connects him to his fixer, a shady seeming character who make things happen. This scenario would be comedy gold for Preston Sturges, Frank Capra, Ernst Lubitsch or Gregory La Cava: mistaken identity, class conflict and potential sexual shenanigans at every turn. In the hands of Wong Jing "Dances with Dragon" is just another example of lazy filmmaking, missed opportunities and wasted talent. There are attractive people being attractive: Andy Lau, Sharla Cheung, May Lo, Yvonne Yung Hung; funny people trying to be funny: Ng Man Tat, Alfred Cheung, Deannie Yip, Wu Ma. Constant references to recent movies that Andy Lau starred in, especially Lee Rock, pass for humor. This isn't a terrible movie--it isn't much of anything. Reviewer Score: 3

Reviewed by: j.crawford Date: 01/17/2008 Summary: Sharla shines! ;-) 1991 was a hugely successful year for the prodigious filmmaker Wong Jing and the handsome pop star Andy Lau. Box office success with the Lee Rock films, Tricky Brains, and The Last Blood continued a run that began with God of Gamblers and Casino Raiders in 1989. This effective romantic comedy was released during the Christmas holiday season. With the emphasis on the comedy, Mr. Wong crams in copious amounts of self-referential jokes about Hong Kong movies, foreign films, and Hong Kong cinema audiences. With the emphasis on the romance, Mr. Wong creates nice screen chemistry with Andy Lau and the beautiful Sharla Cheung Man that is bonded with the cinema goodness of Deannie Yip and Ng Man-Tat. Honestly, it's hard to imagine anyone not falling for Ms. Cheung and Lau doesn't have to act too hard. Nice production values and high technical marks do not mask the fact that everyone was having fun on this project. Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: Kyashan Date: 11/30/2003 Summary: Nice and Funny I watched this movies on vcd and I found it very pretty funny like plot and scene. I idn't understood all because sometime the subtitles are very fast and I can't read it, anyway I can advise to everybody to watch it. Ranting 7/10

Reviewed by: Inner Strength Date: 02/06/2002 Summary: Another Wong Jing mess To me, this was just another Wong Jing mess. The other reviwes explain the story, so I won't add anything else. All I want to point out that the comedy is stupid, and I really tried to enjoy it, but couldn't. Rating: 2/5

Reviewed by: ElectraWoman Date: 10/12/2000 Summary: 7/10-Harmless fun Pretty funny film about a rich boy, Andy Lau, who, after getting tossed off a boat, pretends to be an illegal Chinese immigrant and is adopted by Deannie Yip, who runs a family grocery store and also a part-time gambling cheat and sham healer. He falls in love with her daughter, played by Cheung Man, who happens to work at his company. It's a very sweet film, and Cheung Man and Andy Lau make a wonderful couple. Ng Man Tat, as the hapless assistant, is quite amusing-"I never knew $1000 could be so filling!"-and so is Wu Ma as the local sergent (sp? :\) with a few well-known secrets. Deannie Yip almost steals the film with her vivacious performance, and her love affair with Paul Chu. There's a few flat spots, esp. in scenes involving the millionaire guy, but overall, quite entertaining.

Reviewed by: hkcinema Date: 12/08/1999 Aaron, a young, successful Chinese businessman, drifts ontoa rural island after a scuba accident. Mistaken for an illegal immigrant, he is forced to take refuge in a small, family-run grocery store. Enjoying the riches to rags transition, he tells nobody his true identity, and falls in love with the grocery store owner's daughter, Yvonne. But while Aaron enjoys his life of anonymity, Yvonne covets the chance to escape her poverty. Meanwhile, in Aaron's absense, a plot has been hatched to take over his company. Are Aaron's and Yvonne's lives too different to find happiness together? [Reviewed by Rim Films Catalog]